THOUSANDS of people across Spain took to the streets last weekend as fed-up residents staged fresh protests over the country’s deepening housing crisis.
Demonstrators marched through Malaga, Cadiz, Tenerife, La Palma and Caceres, chanting against soaring rents and the spread of tourist accommodation.
In Malaga, some protesters on Saturday were seen waving a placard reading: ‘Guiris, you’re NOT welcome.’ ‘Guiri’ is a derogatory Spanish term for Northern Europeans.
On Friday, demonstrators marched through La Palma, in the Canary Islands, behind a banner that said: ‘Housing is costing us our lives.’
The coordinated protests come as campaigners across Spain say locals are being priced out of their own cities, with rising housing costs and unchecked urban development forcing longtime residents from their neighbourhoods.
The largest demonstration took place in Malaga, where organisers said the city had reached breaking point after years of rising rents, stagnant wages and the rapid spread of holiday apartments.
Organisers claimed 25,000 participants attended, while government officials put the figure at around 4,500.
Many protesters argued that even full-time workers could no longer afford to rent homes in the cities where they were born.
In Caceres, demonstrators claimed many tenants were spending up to 60% of their salaries on rent, blaming estate agencies and investors for pushing prices beyond local incomes.
Campaigners said housing had become ‘a business instead of a right’ and demanded tighter regulation of rents, limits on tourist accommodation and greater protection for tenants.
Across the Canary Islands, the protests in Tenerife and La Palma followed earlier demonstrations in Gran Canaria, where housing shortages have fuelled growing public anger.
According to property portal pisos.com, the average rental price in Malaga province reached €14.37 per square metre in January, making it the fifth most expensive province in Spain for tenants.
Average rents rose by 7.6% compared with a year earlier.
In Cadiz province, the average rental price stood at €11.74 per square metre in January, representing an eye-watering 14% year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife province, which includes the island of La Palma, the average rental price reached €14.80 per square metre, following a 14.7% year-on-year increase.
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