People in Spain pay half of their wages on rent

A new report has revealed that people in Spain now spend almost half their gross income on rent, laying bare the severity of the rental market situation for local people.

Last year saw a wave of protests to demand affordable housing across Spain, strongly linked to the rise in short-term tourist rental accommodation in Spain’s major cities and tourist destinations. The trend has continued into this year, with a nationwide demonstration held simultaneously in Spanish 40 cities earlier in April.

Spanish radio network Cadena Ser reports that in 2024 average rents rose five times more than average wages in the country.

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According to the ‘Relationship between salaries and rental housing in 2024’ report by property website Fotocasa, in 2024 renters in Spain on average spent 47 percent of their salary on paying the rent, 4 percent more than in 2023 and 9 percent more than in 2019. This figure was based on average salary data from the InfoJobs platform and average rental prices from Fotocasa's property index.

It also showed that rents have risen by a significant 14 percent year-on-year, bringing the average price in December 2024 to €13.29/m2 per month. This means that, taking into account the average gross salary in Spain, which in 2024 was €27,060 (€2,255 gross per month in 12 payments), renters had to spend 47 percent of their salary for an 80 m/2 home.

The percentage of tenants' salaries spent on housing has risen from 38 percent in 2019 to 47 percent today, far exceeding financial recommendations. This is “a figure well above the 30 percent recommended by official bodies,” says María Matos, spokesperson for Fotocasa. “Furthermore, the 4 percentage point increase in just one year shows a radical change in renting, which exacerbates the inaccessibility of housing and could lead to long-term housing insecurity,” she added.

This is a problem across most of Spain, but is particularly acute in regions like Madrid, where tenants now have to spend 71 percent of their gross salary to pay their rent. In Catalonia the figure is 64 percent and in the Balearic Islands more than 60 percent, although there has been a small decrease in the last year.

Looking at the Fotocasa data, on a provincial level the 10 provinces of Spain that spend most of their salary on rent for an 80 m/2 home are: Barcelona (71 percent of gross salary), Madrid (71 percent), Guipúzcoa (59 percent), Vizcaya (56 percent), Girona (55 percent), Valencia (53 percent), Málaga (49 percent), Seville (45 percent) and Alicante (43 percent).

Residents in 70 percent of provinces across the country spend more than the recommended 30 percent of their salary on renting. Meanwhile, in the provinces of Zamora, León, Badajoz, Ávila, Córdoba, Albacete, Cáceres, Teruel, Ourense, Ciudad Real, Jaén, Guadalajara and Castellón, renters spend 30 percent or less.

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