How does climate change affect people’s everyday lives in Catalonia?

Research by Pompeu Fabra University has shown in detail how climate change is affecting the physical and mental well-being of people living in Catalonia in such spaces as the home, the workplace, in nature, and to the body. Thus, it concludes that basic routines like sleeping, working and meeting up with friends are being altered by the effects of climate change. This preliminary qualitative study is led by Mar Coll Planell and Maria Rodó Zárate, researchers with the UPF Gender and Inequalities Research Group (GRETA).

The climate change in Catalonia is no longer a rainy scenario, but rather a daily reality, which affects the lives of the population in very diverse ways. “Hearing the experiences lived may lead to better grounded climate policies that don’t just take into account ‘top-down’ approaches in research and climate policy driven by experts, but also people’s experiences in their everyday lives that also include intangible impacts, especially the emotional effects caused by the crisis on the population of Catalonia”, the authors assert.

The climate change in Catalonia is no longer a rainy scenario, but rather a daily reality, which affects the lives of the population in very diverse ways

A qualitative approach based on the Climate Relief Maps tool

To conduct their study, based on a qualitative approach, the researchers have resorted to Climate Relief Maps (CRM), an online tool that collects information on how people experience climate change in their daily lives in different places, such as the home, the workplace, natural spaces or their own bodies. Based on the established "Relief Maps" method, and within the framework of the INTERMAPS research project, it adapts this approach to climate change so that the lived experience counts, and not just the technical information.

The data collection included the experiences of 86 people, through workshops, during which they answered the Climate Relieve Maps (CRM) individually, and subsequently, discussion groups took place. The participants were people of different genders, aged between 11 and 79 years, most of them residents of rural and non-metropolitan areas (counties of Osona, Baix Camp, Baix Ebre, Pallars Sobirà and Alt Empordà), but there is also representation from the city of Barcelona, ​​​​included to serve as a counterpoint to the analysis. In terms of employment, a large part of the participants are students, but there are also people employed in public administration, education or agriculture. The fieldwork was carried out between November 2023 and July 2024, coinciding with a state of emergency in Catalonia due to a severe drought, a climatic context that may have influenced the responses.

Effects on well-being, their relationship with the natural environment and social life

The study has shown that the impacts of climate change affect people’s physical and mental well-being. Longer spells of more intense heat are disrupting basic routines like sleeping, working and meeting up with friends. People speak of feeling faint, headaches and exhaustion on the hottest days, and the elderly, especially menopausal women, and people with prior medical conditions, report particularly intense symptoms.

In addition to age and health status, people’s economic situation also affects how they can cope with the heat, since having air conditioning or fans is conditional upon having the financial resources. “People’s mental health is also affected because the concern is widespread and, for many, it is becoming an ‘eco-anxiety’ and anger, especially after the prolonged drought suffered in Catalonia in recent years”, the authors point out.

On the other hand, the research shows how climate change is affecting people's relationship with the natural environment. From the Delta de l'Ebre to the Pirineus, people are noticing a visible change in the landscape: empty rivers and reservoirs, dry parks, winters with little or no snow. However, "these are more than environmental changes, as they affect people's sense of identity and belonging. Older people, who carry decades of memories, often speak of "solasticia", the anguish caused by the change in a familiar environment", state Mar Coll Planell and Maria Rodó Zárate.

With regard to the impact on social life and leisure, the participants explain that this aspect of their lives is being reorganized due to the heat and the drought. In summer, activities are conducted later on in the day or somewhere where there is air conditioning. Public pools and rivers turn into vital “climate refuges” in many towns and cities.

“People’s mental health is also affected because the concern is widespread and, for many, it is becoming an ‘eco-anxiety’ and anger, especially after the prolonged drought suffered in Catalonia in recent years”

Gap between everyday efforts and general action and effects in the home

The authors report inequalities between the individual effort and the general result or action: “While individuals say they are trying to save water or change habits, they feel that policies often demand greater efforts of normal households than of more privileged individuals and the big stakeholders”.

Finally, the study shows that although we often focus on the impacts of climate change in public spaces, this crisis is also reshaping life at home. The participants speak of increased care and domestic tasks during the drought falling unequally on women. Many people also report thermal discomfort at home due to hotter summers, hindering resting, working or studying. "These domestic impacts show that climate research and policies must also take into account the private sphere, not just the public sphere" the researchers conclude.

Reference work:  Coll-Planell, M., Rodó-Zárate, M. (october 2025). “Climate Relief Maps. A methodological framework for exploring everyday experiences of climate change through an intersectional lens”, Ambio

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02270-1