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WHEN 22-year-old Málaga student Elena’s parents were her age, they could easily afford to buy an apartment in the city.
Elena is now unable to afford rent and continues to live with her family at home, while working to pay for living expenses.
“All my friends are in exactly the same situation.”
She was among hundreds of thousands marching in Spain to demand immediate action against the housing crisis. Residents face rising rents and a lack of safe, healthy houses.
READ MORE ‘My first room was €200, now it’s €500′: Protests erupt around Spain calling for radical change and a return to affordable housing
It was the third protest the streets of Málaga had witnessed since June last year, the manifestations organised by Málaga Para Vivir.
“We are sending a very clear message for all governments, both municipal, regional, and state, which is that today marks the end of the housing business,” Málaga Para Vivir spokesperson Kiki España said during the march on Saturday.
There are 34 466 housing seekers in the city. However, there are 7 496 tourist accommodations with 32 132 available places. “Does anyone think that this is sustainable?”
Spain’s citizens are demanding that the government no longer treats housing as a “business” but as a fundamental human right.
Architecture student Mario Muñoz said that every year, his landlord raises the rent.
“The only explanation the homeowner provides is that the price of all other flats has increased, so she had to follow suit.”
He lives in a shared apartment with four other people. Renting an apartment alone is out of the question.
The average Spanish rent price has doubled in the last decade, but salaries have struggled to catch-up.
In the meantime, the number of houses being built has decreased by half since the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 120,000 homes are constructed each year.
Spain’s public housing is less than 2 % of the total housing available. Comparatively, the OECD’s average is 7% with 16% of public housing in the United Kingdom.
Gesturing his friends, Muñoz said they were all architecture students with a keen interest in their city’s housing crisis.
He said: “I don’t have a fix, but I can show you places where this problem was controlled by public housing.”
“The tourism industry pushes people from their homes, so the locals’ interests should be given priority.”
Yolanda Greta and Jimena Centurión are two such locals who are suddenly facing homelessness.
More than 120 Torremolinos tenants are being evicted.
Greta’s chronic illness has become worse due to stress.
“We could be evicted this month, this year, we don’t even know when,” Centurión said.
Due to unpaid debts, the developer who built the building of apartments was forced into liquidation. Sareb, which is a half-owned bank by the State, acquired the apartment.
The residents only learned that they would lose their home in August of last year when the building was put up for auction.
“We received a notification from the courts that our rental contracts were not valid,” Centurión said.
Both Greta and Centurión have yet to find new homes to move to.
Engineer Manuel joined Málaga Para Vivir’s first organised protest in June last year. He led chants on the three-kilometre march from Plaza de la Mercad towards Parque de Huelin with a microphone, and his voice was hoarse when they arrived at their destination.
Eight out of ten houses in Plaza de la Merced are used as tourist accommodation.
When Manuel first moved to Málaga ten years ago, the rental price for one room was €200. The average cost of a room now is around €500-600.
He said that the salary increases haven’t kept pace with the increase in the cost of living.
“We have a crisis in Málaga. “The people who usually live in the center of the city, have been displaced out to the outer limits of the city and other towns because the housing costs are very high and they’re only going up.”
Estefanía Ortega Gamboa said he pays €400 for a room in Málaga, yet his salary fails to meet this – just €1000 per month.
According to a report by the Spanish central bank, nearly 40% of renters spend over 40% of their income for their rental accommodation.
“Now, in the center of Málaga, you don’t see any local people. Manuel spoke as keychains jingled.
We have to protest, and we must encourage institutions to act for us. The housing crisis is becoming worse by the day. It is only the beginning, because we must fight for our rights.
Leading up to Saturday’s protest, Málaga Para Vivir organised a series of community events to discuss solutions to the housing crisis.
Although they have not proposed specific solutions, the group wants to see the end of Málaga’s “city model,” which they believe has turned the city into a tourist amusement park.
“We can’t continue allowing a few to make money off our lives, to play with our lives as if it were a game,” Málaga Para Vivir spokesperson Beatriz Linares said.
“Housing cannot be a commodity. It must be a collective right we all protect.”
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