Spanish rental crisis pushes thousands to streets in Barcelona protest
Mass demonstration in Barcelona brings together 22‚000 people fighting high rental costs. Government plans to tackle tourist rentals while locals struggle to find affordable housing in major cities
In a major show-of-force last saturday about 22k people filled barcelonas streets demanding lower house rentals (the biggest housing-related protest this year in spain)
The citys rental market has hit record-high levels with prices going up almost 70% since 2014 - a trend thats making life harder for local residents. “We are spending half our wages in rent ... This must stop!“ says Carme from the local tenants union
The housing problem has spread across the country creating a tough situation between tourism needs and locals living conditions. Here are the places where similar protests happened:
- Northern spain: Burgos and Asturias
- Southern region: Jerez de la Frontera
- Other parts of catalonia
The spanish govt announced back in summer its gonna check tourist rental platforms like airbnb and booking.com for proper licenses; many seasonal workers in places like malaga and canary islands dont have proper homes - living in cars or caravans instead
The tourism-vs-housing balance remains unsolved with short-term rentals taking over many city areas. Local communities face a hard time finding places to live while property owners prefer more profitable tourist rentals
