Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday in 40 Spanish cities to protest against the rising rents and scarcity of affordable housing. Despite enjoying one of Europe’s fastest economic growth rates, Spain faces a severe housing shortage exacerbated by the boom in tourism.
Government Balancing Act
The Spanish center-left government is striving to find a balance between attracting tourists and immigrants to fill employment gaps while keeping rents affordable for ordinary citizens. The surge in short-term rentals, both in major cities and coastal destinations, has intensified the issue.
Activists’ Demands
“Regardless of who’s in power, we must defend the right to housing,” chanted protesters as they held keys aloft. In Madrid alone, over 150,000 people marched through the city center, according to a local tenants’ union.
Housing Prices and Rents
Average rents in Spain have doubled. Over the past decade, housing prices have risen by 44%, significantly outpacing salary growth. Since the 2020 pandemic, available rental listings have halved.
Testimonies from Affected Residents
Margarita Aizpuru, a 65-year-old resident in Madrid’s Lavapiés neighborhood, shared her experience: “Landlords are evicting almost 100 families living in our block because they won’t renew rental contracts.”
Challenges Ahead
Associations of landlords and experts argue that current regulations discourage long-term leases. Landlords find it more profitable and secure to rent to tourists or foreigners on a daily or monthly basis.
Spain welcomed a record 94 million tourists in 2024, making it the world’s second-most visited country, along with an influx of immigrants. These factors have expanded a housing shortage of 500,000 homes, according to Spain’s central bank.
Official data shows that only about 120,000 new homes are built annually in Spain – a sixth of pre-2008 financial crisis levels – further aggravating the supply shortage.
Wendy Dávila, a 26-year-old resident, emphasized that the problem extends beyond city centers, with rents being “too high everywhere.” She added, “It can’t be that to live in Madrid, you have to share an apartment with four others.”
