Spanish election: How bad is the housing crisis?

Spain will grind to a halt in its first general strike in 14 years on Wednesday, just weeks before voters head to the polls in a snap election. At the center of both the strike and vote, one issue looms especially large: unaffordable housing.

Anger over the crisis boiled over in September, following the eviction of an elderly woman from the Madrid home in which she had lived since 1956. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in nationwide protests, prompting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to submit a long-delayed housing bill to the Spanish parliament. When lawmakers rejected the legislation, he decided to send voters to the polls.

“Every generation has its struggle,” Sánchez said during a rally shortly after calling the snap vote. “Ours is housing, and we will solve it, backed by the strength of the people.”

“We must look upwards at those in the penthouses and those who run vulture funds and put an end to their speculative practices and abuses,” he added, calling for voters to unite to protect “small property owners and tenants.”

It is no wonder Sánchez has attempted to seize on the topic of housing in a bid to be reelected. The high price of homes is at the forefront of voters’ minds: the most recent data shows house prices are double what they were at the same time in 2015; the average Spaniard doesn’t leave their parental home until after their 30th birthday; and in some historic centers tourist accommodation accounts for 45% of the rental market.

His big challenge, however, is that he could end up blamed for the problem exploding during his more than eight years in office. Between 2015 and 2025, average home prices in Spain rose by 80%, while salaries increased by only 30%. A pledge to use “all state resources” to provide 184,000 public and affordable rental homes has been difficult to realize.

And yet, on many metrics, Spain’s housing struggles are not even the worst in Europe. Rising rents and home prices across the bloc are fueling discontent and setting the stage for affordability to become a key issue in a string of elections set for the coming year.

Here’s everything you need to know:

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