The demonstrators gathered through Spain to protest the housing crisis news

Photo of author

By [email protected]


The demonstrators returned to the streets in anger due to the high costs of housing with no dilution on the horizon.

Hundreds of thousands of people walked in cities throughout Spain to protest against the high rents and lack of houses at reasonable prices in a country with the fastest economic growth in Europe, yet it suffers from a lack of housing that is exacerbated by a tourist boom.

Housing calamity Throughout Europe, it was severely struck in Spain, where there is a strong tradition in ownership of homes and the little public housing for rent.

The legs government in Spain has struggled to find a balance between attracting tourists and maintaining rents within the reach of ordinary citizens, as short -term rents have turned in the main cities and coastal destinations.

“Regardless of those who rule, we must defend housing rights,” activists shouted on Saturday while threatening the key chains in Madrid, where tens of thousands of demonstrators walked through the center of the capital, according to the local tenants federation.

The average Spanish rental has doubled, home prices have been inflated by 44 percent over the past decade, and data from the perfect property site showed significant growth in salaries.

Meanwhile, rental supplies have decreased in half since 2020.

People are walking against the housing crisis in Madrid
A man crosses the street amid a demonstration against the high costs of housing in Madrid (Paul White/AP)

Tourist flow

Spain does not have the public housing that other European countries have invested in expanding tenants who are struggling with a market that priced them.

Spain is located near the lower end of the organization for economic cooperation and development, as the general housing of rent is less than 2 percent of all available housing.

The average Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is 7 percent. In France, it is 14 percent, the United Kingdom 16 percent and the Netherlands reached 34 percent.

“They are all kicking us to make tourist apartments,” Margareta Izburo, a 65 -year -old resident in the famous Lavis neighborhood, told Reuters.

She said that approximately 100 families live in their bloc told the building owners that rental contracts will not be renewed.

The associations and experts of home owners say that current regulations encourage long -term rents, and the angel finds that rent for tourists or foreigners for several days or two months is more profitable and safer.

Spain received 94 million tourists in 2024, making it the second most visited country in the world.

According to official data, only about 120,000 new homes were built in Spain every year – the sixth level before the 2008 financial crisis, which already increases the lack of acute offer.



https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AP25095450184215-1743866130.jpg?resize=1200%2C675

Source link

Leave a Comment