The generation with the most university graduates in history also faces a barrier to home ownership. Not even affordable renting, which is often the first step toward independence, is reliably available. Only 16% of people aged 18 to 29 have enough resources to leave their parents’ home. In 2005, that figure stood at 41.4%, meaning the modern cohort would have been three times more likely to become independent then than today. More recent findings from the Observatory of Emancipation, published by the Spanish Youth Council using December 2023 data, show that the average young adult would need to devote about 93.9% of their take-home pay to rent in order to live alone, excluding other expenses.
National statistics from the National Institute of Statistics confirm a similar trend, though not as extreme. In 2022, the average gross salary for ages 16 to 24 was 1,315.4 euros, while those aged 25 to 34 earned about 1,850.5 euros. With Spain’s average rent around 950 euros, living alone would require a substantial portion of income for the younger group, about 30% as a general guideline. For the older group, the challenge grows steeper. As a result, the typical age of emancipation surpasses 30, and many people opt to share an apartment—preferably with a partner or a friend, often with roommates rather than with family.
‘suite’ for 500 euros
Manual He is 26 years old. He hails from Valencia and moved to Barcelona a year ago to join a company’s communications department. Finding an individual rental proved difficult, and the prices forced him to accept a room-share arrangement. “Six people share the apartment they rent room by room,” he explains.
Found through the app Badi, a portal for rooms for rent, the page repeats an advertisement for a vacant suite in a building in the Sants district, advertised at 500 euros per month. What the ad omits is that this payment is often made in cash. “Every month we slip the money into an envelope and drop it in the owner’s mailbox, without receiving a receipt in return,” he notes. “There is heavy turnover. When someone leaves, the room rent rises by 30 to 50 euros. The demand is so high that there’s always someone ready to take the spot,” he adds.
The rise in room rentals was previously capped by formal contracts, with annual increases limited to 2 percent in 2023 and 3 percent in 2024. Yet the regulation does not govern room rentals. In this case, renting the apartment this way can top 3,000 euros per month for the owner. “These are informal rooms, creating risky situations, but they can be far more lucrative for the owners,” notes Ignasi Martí, director of the Esade Social Innovation Institute. “Most people renting this way do not have a contract,” he confirms.
The average rental price in Spain reached 12.1 euros per square meter in December 2023, marking a year-over-year rise of 10.1%.
The same price stood at 12.1 euros per square meter in December 2023, reflecting a monthly increase of 1.9% from November and a rise of 2.7% from September. When comparing with the previous year, the annual increase was 10.1%, according to Idealista’s price index.
Rents are climbing quickly across the country, though some regions sit well above the national average. Catalonia, and especially Barcelona, leads as the most expensive rental market: averages around 20.5 euros per square meter, a peak not seen since 2006, while the province of Barcelona sits at about 17.5 euros per square meter.
Madrid follows, with roughly 17.9 euros per square meter on average. San Sebastián (16.8), Palma (15.4), and Valencia (13.3) round out the high-cost cities. Conversely, Zamora (6.2), Lugo (6.6), Ciudad Real (6.6), and Cáceres (6.7) are among the more affordable locales.
Insecure owners
In a Barcelona suburb, a 30-year-old tenant named Ivan is nearing the end of his lease. He has spent nearly five years in a town he calls home, near the city, and he does not want to leave, even though a ceiling of about 800 euros tightens his options. Real estate agents repeatedly say, “We have nothing available.”
Some landlords report that flats sit empty because they fear being overwhelmed by occupancy. The head of a local real estate firm, who prefers to stay anonymous due to the ongoing crisis, notes that many landlords feel unprotected by the current laws. If tenants fail to pay, evictions can be lengthy and costly, so many owners refuse to rent out their properties at all.
A housing professor, Cunyat, argues that the housing law should be updated to provide owners with clearer legal protections. He notes that some owners with vacant flats keep them off the market to avoid occupation risks, and he suggests making regulatory processes more agile to encourage rental supply.
Another ongoing friction is the cost of agency fees. Under the new rules, many owners no longer pay these fees, instead negotiating with tenants who cover the costs. If landlords cover the fee and the tenant leaves after six months, the landlord may lose money, so informal arrangements become common.
A worker from another agency, who spoke off the record, explains that tenants know they can press a landlord to accept them without paying the fee, or offer to cover management costs in an informal agreement.
Catalonia is positioning itself as the first autonomous community to regulate distressed-region rentals, a move that has sparked debate among politicians, economists, and landlords alike. The Rental Home Owners Association (ASVAL) withheld comment after declining a 10-day window for input.
in focus
Interest now centers on Catalonia as the first region to regulate rental prices in distressed areas, set to begin in February under the housing law. In Fotocasa data, the average rent for an 80-square-meter home in the area is about 1,268 euros, though not all properties perform well. One tenant, Sun rise, pays 922 euros monthly for a penthouse in Barcelona with no thermal insulation and no occupancy certificate, while Patricia has struggled for a year to repair leaks from recent floods.
Related coverage considers whether price caps truly stabilize supply. Some analysts argue price regulation can backfire by discouraging well-kept properties from entering the market, leaving only the least desirable options. Others, including an opposing expert, believe measured regulation can help but must be tested and adjusted. Municipal authorities are urged to grant landlords a share of rent revenue supported by city policy to encourage ongoing supply, rather than punitive controls that shrink the market.
Overall, the debate continues about how best to balance tenant affordability with a robust and lawful rental market that protects property owners while expanding access to housing across the region.