Tens of thousands of Spaniards protest housing crunch

BARCELONA

Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in downtown Barcelona on Nov. 23 to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination.

Protesters cut off traffic on main avenues in the city center, holding up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living" and “The people without homes uphold their rights.”

The lack of affordable housing has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world, including the United States .

Organizers said that over 170,000 had turned out.

The average rent for Spain has doubled in last 10 years. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros ($7.5) in 2014 to 13 euros this year.

The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment.

A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40 percent of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40 percent of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27 percent of renters who do so.

The rise in rents is causing significant pain in Spain, where traditionally people seek to own their homes.

Rental prices have also been driven up by short-term renters including tourists. 

Spain is near the bottom end of OECD countries with under 2 percent of all housing available being public housing for rent.  The OECD average is 7 percent.

The Barcelona protest came a month after tens of thousands rallied against high rents in Madrid.