Ada Colau Ballano is Barcelona’s first female mayor. 

Committed to the city’s values and in tune with the needs of its people, during her time in office she has changed the priorities on the agenda, incorporating grassroots policies (for example the Neighbourhoods Plan and housing policies) while also tackling global challenges such as the climate emergency.

She was born in Barcelona, on 3 March 1974. She is the granddaughter of migrants. Her paternal grandparents were shepherds in Güel (Osca). Her maternal grandparents came from Almazán, a village in Sòria. All four came to Barcelona in search of a better future.

Her childhood and part of her teenage years were spent in the neighbourhood of El Guinardó, where she grew up with her three sisters. However, she has lived in many different neighbourhoods over the course of her life, including El Congrés, El Gòtic, La Ribera, and La Barceloneta.

She studied at the Escola Àngels Garriga and the Acadèmia Febrer. 

She studied Philosophy at the University of Barcelona (UB). During her time at university, she also spent a year studying in Milan (Italy) on an Erasmus scholarship.

Like many others of her generation, she suffered from a lack of opportunities and job insecurity. She had various jobs, which she combined with social activism and defending human rights and the right to housing. She now continues to defend these values in her position as Mayor.

She participated in the DESC Observatory, a platform of organisations and individuals dedicated to the study and defence of economic, social and cultural rights, first as a cooperation expert and later as the head of the Right to Housing and City Affairs Department.

In 2009 she helped found the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), a movement which quickly spread throughout Spain. Since its creation, it has prevented more than fifty thousand evictions. She was its main spokeswoman until 2014. 

As spokesperson for the PAH she appeared before the Economic Commission of the Spanish Congress of Deputies during proceedings for a reform of mortgage legislation. This experience was a turning point in the fight for the right to housing. 

In 2014, together with people involved in the residents’ movement and movements in defence of public health and education plus others from academia, she promoted the Guanyem Barcelona (Let’s win Barcelona) project to run in the local election.

As the main candidate for the election coalition Barcelona en Comú, she won the 2015 election. 

On 15 June 2019 she was re-elected mayor of Barcelona.

She has faced difficult moments and exceptional challenges during her term of office, such as the baton charges by the police during the 1-O Catalan independence referendum in 2017, the terrorist attacks on the Rambla, and the social and health emergency caused by COVID-19. In the face of adversity Barcelona has always demonstrated its ability to effectively respond. 

At the City Council, she has prioritised the fight against inequality, the promotion of a more sustainable city model, the defence of the right to decent housing, and the objective of making Barcelona a more participation-based city.

While in office, some of her most noteworthy achievements include launching the Neighbourhoods Plan, creating the Barcelona Anti-Evictions Unit, the Special Tourist Accommodation Plan, the Superblocks programme and the creation of more peaceful school environments.

The policies implemented by her government have received a range of awards and acknowledgements. Some of the most noteworthy of these include the Hotels Salut project, being a finalist in the City Nation Place Awards and winner of the Responsible Tourism Awards (2020), and the European Responsible Housing Award for housing policies that combat gentrification (2019). 

She has participated in various forums, such as the Climate Summit for Local Leaders (Paris, 2015), the UN Summit on Housing and Sustainable Development (Quito, 2016) and the High-Level Forum on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (New York, 2018).

She is currently the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) special envoy for relations between cities and the United Nations and Vice Chair of the C40 Steering Committee, the governing body providing strategic direction for the global network of 97 cities committed to addressing the climate crisis.

She lives on the border between Camp d'en Grassot and Sagrada Família with her partner, Adrià, and her two children, Luca and Gael. 

She lives in the same rented flat she lived in before becoming mayor.