According to a study by the Spanish property search engine pisos.com, 37 percent of rental homes in Spain cost more than €1,500 per month, a sum that’s higher than millions of Spaniards’ monthly wages.
The latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that the average gross salary in Spain is €2,337.19, but the most common salary among Spanish workers in 2024 was €15,575 gross per year.
This equals €1,297.91 gross per month, which is even less the cost of a third of rentals in Spain, meaning most people are unable to even afford a place to live on their current salary.
This goes someway to show just how severe Spain’s housing crisis really is.
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In 2024, the average Spaniard had to dedicate 47 percent of their gross salary to paying for rent, compared to 43 percent in 2023, according to the study ” Relationship between salaries and rental housing in 2024 ” based on data from the InfoJobs platform and Fotocasa Real Estate Index .
Properties priced between €700 and €1,000 per month represent 27 percent of the total, and those costing €1,000 to €1,500 make up 24 percent.
Only 12 percent of rental homes cost less than €700 per month, which, according to the study, “demonstrates the shortage of supply in the most affordable segment of the market”.
There is, however, a stark contrast in costs across the country.
The Balearic Islands tops the list of highest prices for rentals, with 86 percent of properties above €1,500 per month.
This is partly due to demand for vacation rentals, which has driven prices up across the archipelago to levels “practically unaffordable for average incomes”.
Here, there are no rentals below €700 and just 2 percent between €700 and €1,000, according to pisos.com.
Stats from the INE show that those in the Balearic Islands earn an average of €27,537 per year, which puts them in sixth places when it comes to earnings among regions. This equals €2,294.74 per month.
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In Madrid, 62 percent of rentals exceed €1,500 per month, and there are no properties below €700, while only 7 percent are in the €700 to €1,000 range.
In Catalonia, 68 percent of properties cost more than €1,500 per month, with only 3 percent are below €700 and 8 percent are between €700 and €1,000.
These places “have established themselves as the most inaccessible markets in Spain,”, explains Ferran Font, Director of Studies at pisos.com, who says “the shortage of affordable housing in these areas is causing housing access problems for the local population, especially young people and middle-income families”.
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On the other side of the coin, in Extremadura more than half of the properties or 56 percent are below €700 per month, and only 2 percent exceed €1,500.
According to an INE report, the average salary in Extremadura is just €23,684 per year placing it well below the national average for most regions in the country, so it makes sense that it has the largest share of the cheapest rentals.
In Castilla-La Mancha, 28 percent of properties cost below €700 per month and 2 percent are above €1,500.
Font explains that “the gap between coastal and tourist provinces and inland provinces is increasingly pronounced”.
In the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Madrid, and Málaga more than half of rentals are above €1,500 per month, but in the inland provinces, including Jaén, Zamora, Badajoz, Ciudad Real, and Teruel, there is a wide range of rental offerings below €700 per month.
