In early December, about thirty caravans slowly moved from the Vielha car park in the Aran Valley toward Baqueira, staging a protest about the conditions faced by temporary workers. These are the winter-season laborers who travel to the mountains to work on the slopes and live in minibuses because apartments are unavailable or unaffordable due to a severe housing shortage and high prices. The issue stretches beyond the Pyrenees of Catalonia, touching other valleys in Aragon where the landscape is similarly strained. The danger is that high mountain regions could become like Ibiza, overwhelmed by tourists and with too few locals remaining.
“This is not new. It’s the normal situation we have lived with for at least eight years. The ski-resort parking lots are filled with caravans of workers during the winter. We are here. Tell us which slums in the Pyrenees they are,” said a representative from CCOO Huesca. From where, exactly? “Rents are astronomical and wages are not enough,” union sources explained.
Apart from the precarious nature of seasonal employment, which is tethered to wages and the volatility of profits, another major challenge for Pyrenean workers is the housing shortage. Yes, new buildings are rising, but most are intended as second homes. Short-term tourist rentals have surged as well. Homeowners increasingly prefer to rent out properties on weekends to visitors via platforms like AirBnB because the profitability is higher and the paperwork is lighter, making stable, long-term rentals harder to secure.
The data backs the experience. According to the Aragon Institute of Statistics, the number of tourist-use homes with ski access in the Pyrenees has risen sharply since 2016. In La Jacetania, the count grew from 42 residences seven years ago to 448, a nearly tenfold increase. In Alto Gállego, which includes Formigal and Panticosa—the largest ski area in Spain—the number climbed from 191 in 2016 to 652 in 2022. In Ribagorza, tourist properties rose from 151 to 480 in the same period. All of these apartments and houses are drawn from the regular housing market, but they are largely inaccessible to local residents and seasonal workers. The winter season brings its own uncertainty as snow begins to fall, and this year promises to be no different.
“Those who rent flats to workers do so for the entire season, from December through March. They require four months’ rent plus a deposit. Sometimes the costs keep climbing, even as workers arrive and have yet to start earning because the snow hasn’t come. So people pay for a month without earning any money,” explained a union source from CCOO.
Yet some city councils are beginning to act against the proliferation of housing for tourist use. This year, Jaca residents must approve tourist rentals or provide a separate entrance for the apartment. In Aínsa, the cap was limited to 60 units. There is talk of broader regulation, with around 70 licenses issued in a town with just over 600 residents. In Benasque, however, the council voted against restricting private tourist housing altogether.
Numbers that stay hidden
“Housing is a serious problem in many towns where tourist demand is so intense. It drives job insecurity because many workers earn just over 1,000 euros a month. If rent costs around 550 euros for a cottage, there is little left for essentials. This prevents a stable population from forming in the Pyrenees,” said a councilor from Canfranc, Juan Antonio Rodríguez.
In Canfranc, the municipality encouraged the creation of a rental-housing pool. The local administration handles all procedures and offers non-payment insurance, so owners can rent without risk. “We reached eight floors in just one month,” Rodríguez noted. In the medium term, there are plans to build housing with more accessible prices to draw a permanent population.
But that future is still distant. For now, the reality is that some workers live in vans while tending to the ski slopes. “Investment should go into social housing, and rental companies should provide support,” argued from CCOO. The question remains how to balance seasonal needs with long-term affordability and stability.
And the cost of heating in winter and the overall cost of living must be weighed against salaries around 1,300 euros. Everything—from groceries to a pint of beer—tends to be more expensive in the Pyrenees because of tourist pressure, which compounds the financial strain on workers and residents alike.
Victims of tourist density
A study by Holidu, a tourist accommodation rental platform, places several Aragonese towns among the top ten “victims of tourist crowds.” Albarracín ranks second, Sallent de Gállego fourth, and I lovein eighth on the list. For example, the resident population of Sallent is about 1,500, yet more than 32,000 tourists visit annually, yielding more than 20 tourists per person—surpassing even popular destinations like Salou for per-capita tourist pressure.
Without tourism, job opportunities would be even scarcer, and homelessness remains a shared concern for both workers and employers who increasingly struggle to recruit staff. A representative from the Tena Valley Tourist Association, Jesús Pellejero, notes that both legal and illegal tourist housing push rental prices up, making it difficult to hire locally. Some hotels reserve rooms for employees because otherwise, recruiting workers would be impossible. The housing shortage, however, remains the biggest hurdle to steady employment in the region.
Investment in social housing and support from rental companies are essential steps, as is the acknowledgment that heating and living costs in winter must be factored into the overall housing equation. With salaries around 1,300 euros, securing stable, affordable living arrangements is a daily challenge for many in the Pyrenees, and the effect of seasonal demand lingers long after the snow melts.