Spain's Housing Crisis: Protesters Point to 'Vulture Funds' as Rents Soar and Evictions Spark Outrage

Hundreds of demonstrators have been camping out in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square for more than a week, turning one of the Spanish capital's most famous public spaces into a focal point for a growing movement against the country's housing crisis. Among them is Pierina Nicuray, a 21-year-old university graduate who has spent seven days living in a tent alongside fellow protesters. Like many of those gathered in the square, she has a clear view of what is driving the problem. She describes a chronic shortage of homes, combined with landlords who exploit the situation to push rents higher, and the growing presence of short-term tourist rentals such as Airbnb.

Her sentiments are echoed by Jorge Moreno, a 19-year-old student of film dubbing who has also been sleeping in the square. He argues that large numbers of properties are left standing empty because they have been acquired by so-called "vulture funds" and investment firms, which then raise rents until long-term residents are forced out. Moreno, who lives with his mother and doubts he will be able to afford his own home for many years, describes housing as having been turned into an abusive business that prevents ordinary Spaniards from securing a decent place to live.

These views are not confined to the protest camp. They are shared by many ordinary citizens and have even been voiced by members of the Spanish government. When Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently unveiled a package of emergency measures aimed at tackling the housing problem, he framed the legislation as an effort to act "against those who consider housing just another object on the market with which to speculate." The reforms, however, were rejected by Congress, prompting Sánchez to call a snap election for next month.

The protesters' arguments have been galvanised by a single, emblematic case. Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman, was evicted from her home after the investment company that had purchased the property tried to persuade her to leave and then sharply increased her rent, which she could not afford. The resulting public outcry led the company to invite her back to her old home, but she never returned, and she died in hospital on Wednesday. Her death has become a rallying point for those demanding change, with protesters at Puerta del Sol paying tribute to her memory.

Beyond the square, countless others have their own accounts of struggling in a rental market that has become increasingly unaffordable. Carmen Pérez, a retired widow originally from Ecuador who has lived in Spain for 17 years, recalls that housing was relatively cheap and accessible when she first arrived. As costs have climbed, she has been forced to move in with her daughter and son-in-law while she searches for an affordable place to rent. She describes long waiting lists for any property that comes on the market and rents that consistently exceed her budget. The stress, she says, has taken a toll on her health, leaving her with depression and a sense of instability and insecurity.

The scale of the affordability problem is stark. According to the property listing website Idealista, average rental costs across Spain have risen by 84% over the past decade. In the centre of Málaga, in the south of the country, the increase has reached 113%, while in nearby Marbella it stands at just under 150%. These figures have propelled housing to the top of Spaniards' concerns, making it the single biggest issue for the public.

A recent study by the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) reveals that the wider Spanish population, like the protesters, favours firm action against those seen as powerful players in the housing market. Some 72% of respondents supported introducing higher taxes for owners of ten or more properties, 76% backed limits on short-term tourist accommodation, and 40% favoured the expropriation of empty homes. The findings suggest that public appetite for intervention extends well beyond the activists camped in Madrid.

Yet the picture is more complex than the protesters' diagnosis suggests, according to some experts. Jorge Galindo, director at the Esade centre for economic policy, cautions that available data makes it difficult to determine exactly how many Spanish properties are owned by so-called "vulture funds" and used for speculation. He cites Bank of Spain figures from 2024 showing that only 8% of rental properties are owned by companies. From the data available, Galindo concludes that there is no notable concentration of rental housing among a small number of owners in Spain. In his view, the accumulation of property by investment funds is not the main driver of rising rents. Instead, he points to a shortage of supply relative to demand over recent years as the dominant explanation.

The Bank of Spain appears to share that assessment. It has estimated that the country faces a housing shortfall of around 750,000 homes. In September, the institution's deputy governor, Soledad Núñez, warned that this gap could widen to one million by 2028 if current trends continue. The figures underscore the structural nature of the problem and suggest that even a significant crackdown on speculative purchases would not, on its own, resolve the imbalance.

Spain does have a large stock of empty properties — some 3.8 million, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE). However, a substantial proportion of these are located in depopulated rural areas, far from the urban centres where the crisis is most acute, and therefore offer little relief to those struggling in cities such as Madrid, Málaga and Marbella. Other vacant homes are awaiting renovation or are tied up in legal disputes between family members who have inherited them. These factors mean that the headline figure of empty homes overstates the readily available supply in the places where demand is highest.

Demographic shifts have also played a major role in the imbalance between supply and demand. Between 2021 and 2025, Spain added approximately 1.2 million new households, a surge driven in large part by the arrival of migrants. This rapid increase in the number of households has intensified pressure on a housing stock that has not expanded at a comparable pace, compounding the effects of rising rents and limited availability.

As the snap election approaches, housing is poised to remain at the centre of political debate. The protesters in Puerta del Sol, along with sympathetic voters across the country, are demanding action against what they see as profit-driven practices that have locked ordinary people out of secure homes. The government's proposed measures, rejected by Congress, have become a key election issue. Meanwhile, economists caution that the roots of the crisis lie in a persistent shortage of supply, suggesting that any lasting solution will need to address both the pace of new construction and the broader pressures shaping Spain's housing market.