Object: To analyse the framework within which the informal labour market operates and the social implications of this market by conducting a case study of sub-Saharan scrap metal waste pickers - chatarreros - in the city of Barcelona. Design/methodology: The study compares and contrast theoretical findings drawn from the literature about informal work and the social and living conditions of Barcelona's chatarreros. Our primary data are collected from twelve interviews (ten with scrap metal waste pickers and two with neighbourhood leaders) and from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between February and August 2013. ...