Rental prices in Spain have risen significantly over the past ten years. The reason is, among other things, mass tourism, which is making living space more scarce. In Barcelona, however, thousands took to the streets.
Tens of thousands of people protested in Barcelona on Saturday for affordable housing. The police spoke of around 22,000 participants, the organizers of 170,000, as reported by the Spanish news agency Europapress.
The demonstrators demanded a 50 percent reduction in rents, permanent leases and a ban on speculative sales of buildings. They also want to ensure that empty apartments and tourist accommodation are again available to residents of the capital of the Catalonia region in northeastern Spain
Barcelona doesn't want any Holiday apartments allow more
“It is unacceptable for investors to come to our cities and play Monopoly with the apartments,” said Catalan Tenants' Association spokeswoman Carme Arcarazo. “It's enough now that we spend half of our salary on rent and have to pack our things every time a contract expires,” Arcarazo was quoted as saying by the newspaper El País. Various parties and unions also took part in the demonstration in solidarity.
According to El País, in addition to many tourist accommodations, real estate purchases by foreign investors, who also receive visas at the same time, are aggravating the situation on the tense housing market in Barcelona. The capital of the Catalonia region has already announced that it will no longer allow holiday apartments for tourists from 2028. Instead, the currently more than 10,000 holiday apartments will once again be available to long-term tenants.
Rental prices in Spain have risen massively
In other cities in Spain and on the islands, there are repeated protests against excessive rents and the consequences of mass tourism for the housing market. An estimated 22,000 people demonstrated in the Spanish capital Madrid on October 13th.
According to the real estate portal Idealista, rental prices per square meter have increased by 82 percent across Spain over the past ten years. According to the National Statistics Institute, the average salary has increased by 17 percent during this time.
