Millions of workers are being called for a first general strike next Wednesday over the housing crisis and cost of living.
The protest began following the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal in Madrid and after the repeal in Congress of royal decrees on housing. It has been supported by major unions, who argue that talking about a housing strike is insufficient: the social impact of a policy that denies access to housing directly affects working-class people.
House price vs income
Prices for buying and renting homes have increased since 2015. During the Great Recession of 2008, the real estate market collapsed and property values declined; with economic recovery, prices rose again.
Between 2015 and 2025, average personal income grew by 50%, while wages increased by approximately 30%. In contrast, home purchase prices rose by 80% and rental prices by 87%.
Regional price gap
The gap between incomes and housing prices is more pronounced in regions where house values have risen most strongly: Madrid (76%), Catalonia (69%) and Balearic Islands (74%). Wages in these areas have not kept pace with this growth.
Population growth
Since 2015, Spain has seen its population grow by over three million people, nearly a 7%. Growth was strongest in Madrid (+12%, 793,000 people), Barcelona (+10%, 556,000) and Valencia (+11%, 279,000).
The majority of this new population comes from abroad: residents born in another country increased from 5.8 million in 2015 to over 10 million by 2026.
Tourism and overnight stays
Since 2018, Spain has doubled the number of overnight stays in tourist apartments according to Eurostat data on short-term accommodations offered online.
In Málaga, more than 26 million overnight stays were recorded in 2025, more than double that of 2018. This is followed by Alicante, Las Palmas, and Barcelona.
The National Statistics Institute estimated there were 341,000 tourism properties in Spain in May 2025, a figure which decreased compared to the previous year (by a total of 41,000).
Demand for housing
Purchase prices have risen at the pace of real estate demand. After the burst of the bubble, property transactions dropped from 836,000 in 2007 to just 300,000 in 2013.
Since then, buying and selling activity has increased almost continuously: it only stopped in 2020 (due to pandemic) and again in 2023. By 2025, this had reached 750,000 transactions.
Non-resident foreigners have decreased from 18% to over 8% of total real estate purchases since 2015; they exceed 20% in the Balearic Islands and Málaga, and reach 30% in Alicante.
Real estate construction
In the 1990s, Spain built approximately 250,000 homes annually. During the bubble period, this number increased to more than 600,000 per year.
After the crash, construction dropped dramatically. In 2025, only 91,000 homes were completed — less than one third of those built in the nineties and less than what is needed to meet current demand.
Housing deficit
The Spanish Bank's deputy governor raised the housing shortfall for 2028 to a million if circumstances do not change.
European comparison chart
In 2025, Spain constructed 1.85 homes per every 1,000 inhabitants according to data from Hypostat Institute.
That figure is below that recorded in United Kingdom (2.04), Germany (2.47) and Greece (2.62).