Briefing
On 28 September 2026, the Spanish government presented the report at Disseny Hub Barcelona the report Vidas Futuras It was produced by the Oficina Nacional de Prospectiva y Estrategia under the auspices of La Moncloa and presented at an event attended by the Ministry and the President Pedro Sánchez The aim is to set out systematically possible scenarios for everyday life in Spain in 2050 and use them to identify areas for policy action.
The report’s main finding is that several familiar trends are likely to intensify: homes are likely to become smaller on average, while the number of one-person households will rise and family structures will become more diverse. At the same time, according to Vidas Futuras, digitalisation is permeating almost every area of life – work, mobility, services and social relationships. The authors emphasise that this could increase the value of face-to-face encounters, while also creating new risks of social inequality if access to digital services remains uneven.
The report explicitly makes no specific legislative proposals or sets no timetable; it is intended as a basis for analysis and a stimulus for public debate. The authors identify policy areas based on the scenarios, including housing policy, strengthening basic digital provision, lifelong learning opportunities and the organisation of care. The paper builds on the existing strategy Plan España 2050 but presents its findings as a complementary scenario-based contribution.
It remains politically unclear whether these visions of the future are intended primarily to structure debate or to guide active policymaking. The report makes clear in several places that implementation capacity, reliable funding and a coordinated division of responsibilities between the state and the autonomous communities will be vital to making the most of opportunities and limiting the adverse effects of digitalisation on distribution. The presentation in Barcelona thus marks the start of a broad public debate on how Spain’s society and territory should be shaped up to 2050.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).