Spaniards demonstrate against housing shortage – diepresse.com

In Spain, tens of thousands of people protested against increasing housing shortages in nationwide demonstrations. For rallies in around 40 cities such as Madrid, Barcelona or Palma in Mallorca under the motto « Let’s put an end to the business with the living space », several tenant organizations called with the support of the unions.

The lack of apartments drives rents to new heights, which is why people have to spend an increasing proportion of their income for rent, often more than 50 percent.

The Spanish consulting company Atlas calculates that around 3.5 million additional apartment would be needed nationwide so that the housing costs do not make up more than 30 percent of the income available. In fact, according to the National Statistics Office in 2024, just under 100,000 new ownership and rental apartments were completed, while the number of households increased by around 330,000, as the Cadena Ser broadcaster reported.

Demonstrators require rental stamps

The organizers of the demonstrations call for the end of real estate speculation, more social housing, an end to the conversion of living space into holiday apartments, rental and expropriations. Some spokesman called on not paying the rent, ignoring dismissals and filling holiday apartments. The housing industry complains of an excessive bureaucracy, too little building land and heavily increased construction costs. It is only possible to improve the situation in the long term.

In addition, the consequences of mass and luxury tourism on the housing market, especially in vacationers such as Mallorca, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Málaga and Madrid, cause trouble. While the number of visitors from abroad in Spain always breaks new records, people with low incomes can hardly afford an apartment. According to the Real Estate Agency FotoCasa, rents have increased by 158 percent in the Balearic Islands with Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. (APA/dpa)