Having a job is no longer enough to afford a home in Spain, where property prices have risen far faster than wages, leaving many workers struggling to save for a deposit, cover rent and secure a place of their own.
Between 2015 and 2025, Spanish house prices increased by 84.6%, while average annual gross wages rose by 27.85% between 2015 and 2024, reaching 29,540 euros. The growing gap has made homeownership increasingly difficult, particularly for young adults and low- and middle-income households whose earnings have failed to keep pace with the cost of housing.
The crisis has also become a major political issue. After failing to secure parliamentary approval for a package of urgent housing measures, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early general election, bringing renewed attention to the difficulties facing people who work but cannot afford suitable accommodation.
Rafael Pampillon, a professor of applied economics at San Pablo-CEU University in Madrid, describes the problem as structural. He argues that the rising cost of buying and renting property has created barriers that cannot be overcome simply by having a regular salary.
According to data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), house prices rose by 84.6% over the decade to 2025. Wages agreed through collective bargaining increased by approximately 27% over the same period. More recent figures cited by Spain’s Ministry of Labour show that house prices increased by 12.2% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, while average wage increases remained between 3% and 4%.
The difference means that workers are losing purchasing power in the housing market even when their earnings increase. For many households, a salary that once offered a realistic route to homeownership now covers everyday expenses without leaving enough money to build the savings needed to buy a property.
A recent study by Oxfam Intermon highlights the effect of housing costs on people who are already employed. The organisation estimates that housing expenses have pushed Spain’s in-work poverty rate to 15.49%, affecting approximately 770,000 people.
The report also finds that one in three people renting at market rates falls into poverty after paying rent. The poverty rate among these tenants stands at 34.08%, compared with 10.22% among households paying a mortgage and 7.95% among people who own their homes outright.
Alejandro Garcia-Gil, head of housing, employment and social policies at Oxfam Intermon, says the problem extends beyond evictions and homelessness. Many people remain employed and manage to pay their rent each month, but are left with too little money to maintain a decent standard of living.
This financial pressure is particularly severe in major cities and areas affected by tourism, where demand for accommodation has contributed to high housing costs. Spain’s rental market has become a major obstacle for households trying to manage their monthly budgets, while the amount left after paying for accommodation can be too small to support meaningful savings.
The Bank of Spain’s latest annual report warns that four in ten households living in rented accommodation face an excessive financial burden, spending more than 40% of their income on rent. The report also notes that house prices have risen faster than household incomes, increasing the financial effort required to buy a property compared with conditions in several other major European economies.
High rents create a second problem for people hoping to purchase a home. Even when monthly mortgage payments might be comparable to, or lower than, rent, buyers must first accumulate enough savings to cover the initial costs of purchasing a property.
Pampillon says this upfront requirement can keep workers trapped in the rental market for years. Much of their income goes towards housing, leaving little available to save for a deposit. The longer they need to save, the longer they continue paying rent, making it harder to accumulate the money required to buy.
For a property costing around 200,000 euros, Pampillon estimates that a buyer may need approximately 60,000 euros to cover the deposit and associated purchase costs. That amount remains out of reach for many households, even when they have stable employment.
Family support can make a decisive difference. People whose parents can provide financial assistance may be able to buy earlier, while those who depend entirely on their wages face a longer and more uncertain path to homeownership.
The result is a widening divide between households with access to family wealth and those without it. According to the INE’s Survey of Living Conditions, the share of households in Spain that do not own their homes has increased by 45% since 2008, reflecting a longer-term shift in the country’s housing situation.
However, the affordability crisis cannot be explained by wages and rental costs alone. Spain is also facing a shortage of housing supply, particularly in areas where demand is strongest.
The Bank of Spain estimates that a housing deficit of approximately 750,000 homes accumulated between 2021 and 2025. In 2025, around 225,000 households were formed, while approximately 92,000 new homes were completed. The difference highlights the difficulty of increasing supply quickly enough to meet demand.
The effects of the financial crisis, the slow recovery in wages and the arrival of investment funds in the property market have also contributed to the wider debate over affordability. Experts argue that addressing the problem requires more than encouraging people to earn higher salaries. Housing must also become more accessible in terms of price, availability and the amount of money required to secure a home.
The European Commission has described Spain’s housing market as facing deeply rooted structural challenges. Its assessment points to a serious mismatch between supply and demand, alongside an insufficient stock of affordable and social housing, including options for people who need below-market rents.
The scale of the problem has prompted calls for action from Spain’s trade unions. The unions CC.OO. and UGT have called a 24-hour general strike for 11 November under the slogan “wages, housing, prices”, seeking to highlight the combined pressure of living costs, low purchasing power and housing unaffordability.
The campaign has gained further attention following the eviction and subsequent death of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman who died in early October, days after being forced out of her home. Her case became a symbol of the wider housing protests and the consequences of housing insecurity for vulnerable residents.
UGT general secretary Pepe Alvarez has argued that existing wage levels and collective agreements cannot resolve the crisis while housing costs continue to rise at their current pace. The union is calling for an increase of at least 7% in Spain’s statutory minimum wage in 2027, which would take it above 1,300 euros paid over 14 instalments.
CC.OO. general secretary Unai Sordo has also questioned whether wage increases alone can make a meaningful difference when property prices are rising so quickly. In a statement dated 13 October, he argued that wage policies cannot compensate for annual housing price increases of around 12%.
The union has proposed directing at least 1% of Spain’s annual gross domestic product towards public housing for a decade. It is also calling for measures to limit speculation and curb price increases.
Pampillon agrees that higher wages are only part of the solution. He argues that Spain needs more productive businesses, greater investment and better-paid jobs, but also policies that make it possible to build homes where demand is highest.
That includes making land available for development, speeding up building permits, coordinating infrastructure and reducing administrative procedures that increase costs without providing effective protection. According to the economist, housing demand is growing much faster than the construction sector can respond.
The challenge for policymakers is therefore twofold: workers need incomes that can support a reasonable standard of living, and the housing market needs enough affordable homes to prevent prices from moving further beyond their reach.
For Spain’s renters, first-time buyers and households already struggling with housing costs, the consequences are immediate. A regular job may provide an income, but when rent consumes a large share of that money and saving for a deposit remains difficult, employment alone no longer offers a reliable route to owning a home.
