20 hours ago
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Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Spain in the latest protest against housing speculation and to demand access to affordable homes.
Organisers claim that up to 150,000 joined the protest in Madrid while smaller demonstrations were held in about 40 cities across the country. Protesters from Málaga on the Costa del Sol to Vigo in the Atlantic northwest chanted “end the housing racket” and “landlords are guilty, the government is responsible”.
Valeria Racu, a spokesperson for the Madrid tenants’ union, called for rent strikes such as those mounted recently in some Catalan coastal towns.
“This is the beginning of the end of the housing business,” Racu said. “The beginning of a better society, without landlordism and this parasitical system that devours our salaries and our resources.”
The union says 1.4m Spanish households spend more than 30% of their income on housing, 200,000 families more than 10 years ago.
Housing has become the number one social issue in Spain as a combination of property speculation and tourist apartments have driven the cost of rented housing beyond the reach of all but the most wealthy.
Official statistics suggest there are at least 15,000 illegal tourist apartments in Madrid while in Barcelona the city council says it will not renew the existing 10,000 tourist apartment licences when they expire in 2028.
What was initially a problem in areas with a high concentration of tourists, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, as well as Barcelona, has become an issue across the country, with protests in Seville, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela, Burgos and San Sebastián, among other cities, where protesters rattled sets of keys in what has become a symbol of discontent over the lack of affordable homes.
In the Balearics the average rent for a small apartment has risen by 40% in five years to about €1,400 (£1,190) a month, more than the average monthly salary of those working in the hospitality sector, the region’s main industry.
The young have been hardest hit as housing costs have soared while salaries remain stagnant. A study published by the Spanish youth council showed that a lack of affordable housing meant that last year 85% of young people under 30 were still living with their parents.
In Barcelona, where thousands gathered in the Plaça d’Espanya, protesters demanded a 50% reduction in rents, indefinite leases and an end to property speculation.
According to the Catalan housing agency, rents in Barcelona have increased by 70% in the past 10 years. Salaries rose by 17.5% over the same period.
“The housing game is rigged in favour of anyone with assets while tax incentives encourage them to acquire more and more property,” said Jaime Palomera of the Barcelona Urban Research Institute and the author of El Secuestro de la Vivienda (The Kidnapping of the House).
“The rich have got richer since the financial crash in 2008 and the Covid crisis and they have used this wealth to buy more and more property, constantly driving up prices and increasing inequality.
“The fact is that property offers a better return than other investments. We have an economic model that encourages investment in assets that don’t create any value but simply use rent as a way of sucking money out of the middle classes.”
The solution, Palomera says, is to tax those who own multiple properties.
He cites the example of Singapore, where the state offers financial support to first-time buyers but imposes an ascending tax regime on second and subsequent homes.
