Wanted: a Home – Spain Is Becoming a Victim of Its Own Success
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Wanted: a Home – Spain Is Becoming a Victim of Its Own Success
SPAIN
In early April, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in demonstrations across Spain, angry over the high price of housing.
From Madrid to Malaga to the Balearic Islands, Spaniards said they were angry because they can’t afford to buy or rent homes anymore. Many young and well-paid professionals now, they added, are forced to live with their parents or share apartments – and are still broke.
“I’m living with four people and I still allocate 30 or 40 percent of my salary to rent,” Mari Sánchez, 26, a lawyer in the capital of Madrid, told the Associated Press. “That doesn’t allow me to save. That doesn’t allow me to do anything. That’s my current situation, one many young people are living through.”
In Spain, the average rent has almost doubled in the past 10 years, due to the country’s history of real estate speculation, and the lack of new affordable housing, Euronews reported. From September 2023 to September 2024 alone, rent increased 16 percent in Madrid, and 29 percent in the central Spanish city of Cáceres, a World Heritage Site.
It’s a similar increase for property.
Homeownership, meanwhile, among Spaniards under 35 has fallen dramatically over the past 14 years. In 2011, 70 percent of that demographic group owned their own home. Today, around one-third do.
The problem is particularly acute in areas that attract large numbers of tourists, such as Barcelona or the Canary Islands.
In some of these areas, as in Barcelona or Ibiza in the Balearic Islands, rental prices can often exceed 100 percent of the median salary, the news outlet added.
Some say the country is becoming a victim of its own success.
“A dozen years ago, Spain was a byword for economic failure,” wrote the Economist. “The country’s government and banks appeared to be locked in a death spiral and depended on bailouts, young people were leaving the country or protesting their lack of opportunities. Homes lay half-built and airports abandoned, relics of a burst construction bubble. How that has changed.”
Last year, Spain was the best-performing economy of the developed world, based on five indicators – GDP, stock-market performance, core inflation, unemployment, and government deficits – compared with 37 countries, the magazine noted. “Both overall economic growth and the pace of job creation are running faster than in America, which has been the envy of the rich world.”
Analysts say that Spain is benefiting from reforms it made after the financial crisis more than a decade ago, when it reformed its banking sector, imposed fiscal discipline, loosened its labor market, and worked to close the digitalization gap.
What also helped is lower energy costs than in many other developed economies in Europe, investment from China and elsewhere, a growing labor pool, also thanks to immigration, and retuning its economy to diversify, and to focus on high value-added sectors such as technology, financial services, renewable energies, engineering, biotech, and consulting.
As a result, Spain is now the eurozone’s fourth-biggest economy, its fastest-growing, and responsible for 40 percent of its growth last year. It is the “envy” of Europe, the BBC noted.
“Madrid has attracted strong international attention over the last two years due to its incredible post-COVID economic streak,” IARI, an Italian think tank, wrote. “Whereas most of Europe’s economies struggled with soft growth and lingering uncertainties, Spain’s turnaround consistently outperformed the rest of (the European Union) countries’ performance…It became one of the EU’s main growth drivers… Spain’s capacity to maintain this trend …will irreversibly define its geopolitical standing and solidify its place within the European Union as well as the global order.
However, it is the booming tourism sector – 93.8 million visitors last year and the second most-visited country after France in the world – and the attractiveness of Spain to immigrants as well as investors that are also putting pressure on the availability of homes and pricing.
Immigrants to Spain have increased the population by 1.5 million over the past three years to 48.9 million. About 70 percent of immigrants hail from Latin America and are competing for the same affordable housing that Spain’s own citizens are hunting for. At the same time, Spain’s unemployment rate – 12 percent, high by European standards – as well as real wage stagnation and the higher growth of lower-paid service sector employment mean that many can’t afford to rent or buy anymore.
Protesters, who have been demonstrating for two years against the housing issue but also overtourism, also blame international hedge funds for buying up properties to sell or rent to tourists.
As a result, Spain has instituted a 100 percent tax on all non-EU residents who buy homes in the country. At the same time, cities such as Barcelona are phasing out thousands of permits for short-term rentals on platforms such as Airbnb by 2028.
The government has also implemented a rental price cap.
Analysts and protesters, however, say all this is too little, too late.
Meanwhile, some of the pressure for housing is actually driving out businesses, noted William Chislett of the Elcano Royal Institute, a Spanish think tank, detailing how thousands of small shops and bars in neighborhoods across Spanish cities are now being converted into apartments for tourists, or the occasional resident.
One, a bakery called Feni, which was founded in 1945, was near the writer’s home in Barrio Salamanca, Madrid. It closed last year to become a home.
While residents lamented the loss of the bakery and other neighborhood businesses, saying it is changing the character and conveniences of their district, new residents were thrilled to finally have a place to stay.
Analysts say there is no stopping this trend for now, in spite of the anger over it.
“(Owners) can make more money renting them out as housing rather than as a bakery,” Alejandro Tamayo, professor of urban planning at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, told Spanish newspaper El Mundo. “Whoever converts the premises doesn’t think about the needs of the community or the neighbors, but rather their own economic interest. It’s a problem.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Pope Francis, the Reformist Head of the Roman Catholic Church, Dies at 88
THE VATICAN
Pope Francis, the first Latin American and Jesuit pontiff who led the Catholic Church for more than a decade with a focus on humility, inclusion, inter-religious peace, and social justice, died Monday at the age of 88, following complications from double pneumonia after being hospitalized for almost six weeks, the Associated Press reported.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced Francis’ death early Monday from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, saying that the late pontiff dedicated his entire life “to the service of the Lord and of his Church.”
Bells tolled across Rome, flags flew at half-staff across Italy, and mourners gathered at St. Peter’s Square – and at Catholic Churches around the globe – as tributes and condolences poured in from around the world for a leader who was both admired for his “charming, humble” style and also one who infuriated some for his lack of dogma, according to CNBC.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said his passing “pains us deeply, because a great man and a great pastor leaves us.” She thanked Francis for “his friendship, his advice and his teachings, which never diminished even in times of trial and suffering.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife hailed the pope for wanting the Church “to bring joy and hope to the poorest,” while Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described him as “in every way a man of the people.”
Israeli and Iranian leaders both offered their condolences, while acknowledging his interfaith outreach and advocacy for peace.
Tributes also came from the Trump administration, including US Vice President JD Vance – the last world leader to meet the pontiff before his passing, having held a brief meeting over the weekend.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in the Argentinian capital to Italian immigrants, Francis once worked as a janitor, a bouncer, and a pharmacist before becoming a Jesuit at 21. He attributed his spiritual awakening to a confession when he was 17.
His nickname “slum bishop” came from his work in Buenos Aires’ poorest neighborhoods, where he doubled the number of priests and prioritized hands-on ministry, Politico noted.
In 2013, Francis was elected as the Holy See’s 266th pope following the historic resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. He was the first pontiff from the Southern Hemisphere.
He became pope during a period that saw the Church in crisis, reeling from sex abuse scandals around the world and internal corruption. Francis’ image as a reformer from the Global South helped restore faith for many disillusioned Catholics.
Observers described Francis’ papacy as a departure from the papal formality of his predecessors, emphasizing humility, outreach to the marginalized, and a pastoral approach over doctrinal rigidity, which often upset some in the clergy.
He frequently spoke out on global inequality, climate change, and the treatment of migrants, earning praise from progressive Catholics and civil society groups, while drawing criticism from conservatives who accused him of diluting Church teaching to promote a political agenda.
Francis made a series of controversial reforms to Vatican governance, appointing women to decision-making roles and giving laypeople more authority in synodal discussions. He opened debate on sensitive issues, including same-sex blessings and communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.
However, he maintained traditional doctrine on abortion and refused to allow female ordination, frustrating liberals and feminist Catholic groups, too.
His handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis was mixed. While he took action against high-profile figures and removed secrecy rules surrounding abuse cases, critics said he moved too slowly and failed to fully address institutional cover-ups.
On the global stage, Francis advanced interfaith dialogue, visited conflict zones, and sought neutrality in international disputes, though he faced criticism for his perceived silence on rights abuses in China and ambiguity in his statements on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
His death triggers the traditional mourning period, followed by a funeral to be held at St. Peter’s Basilica and the calling of a conclave to elect his successor.
Rehabilitation Redux: El Salvador Proposes Prisoner Swaps with Venezuela For the Deported
EL SALVADOR
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele proposed a prisoner swap in which El Salvador would repatriate a number of Venezuelans deported by the US and detained in El Salvador if Venezuela releases the same number of “political prisoners,” wrote the BBC.
In a post on X addressed to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bukele named relatives of opposition leaders, journalists, and activists jailed during Venezuela’s electoral crackdown last year, according to the Associated Press.
Bukele used his X post to tell Maduro that the people imprisoned are only detained for having opposed him and his “electoral fraud” and have committed “no crime,” Al Jazeera reported. On the contrary, he said, many of the Venezuelan deportees had committed “rape and murder.”
“I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100 percent of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold,” he wrote.
This proposal follows a deal between El Salvador and the US in which Bukele agreed to accept Venezuelans and Salvadorans deported by US President Donald Trump, who are accused of belonging to gangs.
The prisoners are being held in El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) – a mega-jail capable of holding up to 40,000 people built by Bukele’s government in an effort to combat gang violence in El Salvador. The Trump administration has given Bukele’s government about $6 million to house the detainees at CECOT.
Maduro condemned the US deportation of Venezuelans to El Salvador as “kidnapping” and called it a “massive abuse” of human rights.
Venezuela also lashed out at Bukele by calling the El Salvadoran president a “tyrannical human trafficker” whose “cynical” offer exposed him as a narcissistic “neo-Nazi” who had “kidnapped” more than 250 Venezuelan migrants, the Guardian reported.
“Bukele is a serial human rights violator,” said Venezuelan attorney general Tarek William Saab, pointing to the politician’s “horrifying” three-year anti-gang crackdown, which has seen at least 85,000 Salvadorians thrown in jail, largely without due process.
The US-El Salvador deal has been criticized by human rights groups and faces legal challenges. Analysts say the El Salvadoran offer to swap prisoners is a “PR stunt” for Bukele to distract from his own human-rights abuses. Lashing out at El Salvador serves a similar purpose for Maduro.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, the US Supreme Court ordered the US to halt the deportation of another group of alleged Venezuelan gang members without due process.
South Pacific NIMBY: Australia Worries as Russia Reportedly Eyes Indonesia Base
AUSTRALIA
Australia is scrambling to try to prevent Russia from using an Indonesian air force base that would position its jets within striking range of the Australian mainland, wrote Politico.
“We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region, very clearly,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on the issue.
Currently, Australia is “seeking further clarification” from Indonesia about Russia’s request to base Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base in Indonesia’s easternmost province, according to the American military news outlet, Janes.
Manuhua Air Force Base is in Biak Numfor, in the Indonesian province of Papua. Australia and the US often carry out military exercises in the area.
Last week, Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said that he spoke to his Indonesian counterpart, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, who told him that reports about Russia using the Indonesian military base are “simply not true,” the Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, Russia has not commented on the issue, but analysts said the unusual proposal was unlikely to be approved due to its geopolitical risks.
Since President Prabowo Subianto took office last year, Indonesia has strengthened its security and defense ties with Russia, despite maintaining a policy of strategic neutrality that has long characterized the country’s foreign policy, explained the Conversation.
Australia, meanwhile, reiterated its position toward Russia, saying that the country stands with Ukraine and considers Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “an authoritarian leader who has broken international law.”
Albanese’s main opponent in the 2025 election campaign, Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton, said in a press conference that Putin was “not welcome in our neighborhood.”
DISCOVERIES
Jurassic Pit Stop
Long-necked herbivores and sharp-clawed carnivores weren’t always enemies.
Paleontologists recently discovered that the extinct creatures shared the same watering hole some 167 million years ago in what is now the Isle of Skye in northwestern Scotland – mingling peacefully at a prehistoric lagoon that served as a kind of Jurassic pit stop.
“It was kind of the service station for the Middle Jurassic,” lead author Tone Blakesley of a new study on dinosaur footprints explained to the Washington Post. “The dinosaurs would have come down from the surrounding land masses, drop down for a drink, and move on.”
First spotted in 2019, Blakesley and his colleagues have since uncovered between 150 and 200 footprints, analyzing 131 for the study. They used drones and 3D imaging to document the site and reconstruct dinosaur movements across the area.
Some of the prints were nearly 18 inches in length and belonged to Megalosauruses, which were meat-eating dinos and ancestors of Tyrannosaurus rex. Other footprints were larger and rounder and likely belonged to plant-eating sauropods, such as Cetiosaurus.
Based on stride length and footprint size, the researchers estimate that the carnivores moved at a brisk pace – around five miles per hour – while the sauropods lumbered along at about 1.5 miles per hour.
The tracks were made in soft sand that once lined a shallow freshwater lagoon and were preserved as the sediments hardened over millions of years.
“It looks like someone has pressed the pause button,” Blakesley told the Guardian. “It’s a surreal feeling to see these footprints with my own eyes, to be able to put my hand in the sole of these footprints.”
Paleontologist Mike Benton, who was not involved in the study, noted that the discoveries offer a rare insight into “a time when we don’t know much about dinosaurs and other land animals anywhere in the world.”
“They are really important because they represent fossilized behavior,” Benton told the Post. “In other words, each example shows us exactly what a dinosaur was doing so many million years ago.”
To see the footprints on the Isle of Skye, watch the short documentary about the discovery featuring Blakesley and other researchers here.