Thousands march in Spain to demand affordable housing

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/thousands-march-in-spain-to-demand-affordable-housing/87724461

21 Comments

  1. Spain would rather fund terrorism than help its own people have decent housing:

    [Spain pledges extra 20 mln euros in aid to UNRWA](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-pledges-extra-20-mln-euros-aid-unrwa-2024-03-07/)

    Spain’s government claims to be leftist but their actions indicate they are not. Spain prefers to fund an extreme right wing terrorist movement in the Middle East than helping the Spanish people live a decent life.

    UNRWA supports terrorism:

    [unrwa’s terrorgram](https://unwatch.org/unrwa-terrorgram/)

  2. Its very ironic. People go to Spain to buy affordable houses but the Spanish people, especially the younger generation, don’t see a future for themselves in Spain and try to leave the country

  3. inadarkplacesometime on

    I was in the neighbourhood and it was surreal watching the huge crowds completely blocking a good chunk of the Gran Via neighbourhood. Good thing the protest was under control and didn’t spiral into violence, or it could have been pretty bad.

  4. streamofthesky on

    This is a problem basically everywhere now. The solution is a “homestead tax”. The problem isn’t people buying and living in the houses. It’s the people and corporations buying up a lot of them as investments/rentals. Your primary residence and maybe a 2ndary one (to allow for leeway when people are moving or for those who split their time between two locations) does not face the tax. Any single family homes beyond that face it, and it’s a substantial tax of like 30% the property’s value per year.
    Announce the passage of the law to take effect ~ 1 year from then. Lower interest rates. Watch as “investors” bail out of the housing market like rats from a sinking ship, before they’re hit with the burden of that tax. Ordinary people can then snatch the houses up at once in a lifetime deals, and the low interest rates allow them to afford the mortgage to do so. (yes, low interest rates have been common the past decade, but w/o something like this “homestead tax”, that just benefits corporations buying houses more than middle class people, since they can borrow way more than you, and get it taken out as cash for an all-cash sale, while you have to get a mortgage)
    Kills off all forms of speculative and investment ownership of single family homes. Whether it’s from Blackrock or China. House prices momentarily drop, then stabilize somewhere a bit lower than the current prices, except now with many more of them owned by the residents living in them.
    Politicians will never do this, because they LIKE the artificially inflated to the max housing prices, since it means more property tax revenue for “general funds” w/o having to pass a tax increase. But it is the solution.

  5. Actuarial_Adulterer on

    The producitivity of labour in spain is low. Can someone please explain why they deserve housing more than highly skilled/wealthy and mobile migrants?

    Brits, Canadians and Americans: “Immigrants and tourists makes housing more expensive”

    Reddit: “quiet, racist”

    Spanish: “Immigrants and tourists make housing more expensive”

    Reddit: “omg so true”

  6. So weird how few countries are capable of building sufficient housing when population growth has almost stopped.

  7. modsaretoddlers on

    Everything about housing in the developed world is an absolute nightmare right now. No government is listening to its citizens and is completely ignoring the issue. These idiots in charge are ensuring that they have absolutely no support at all among younger generations. It’s also like they have a plan to destroy the middle class.

    In my country, I assume that it’s just that our politicians are corrupt and only act in their own self-interest. I mean, that’s usually the case so why assume anything is different? These guys work for the elites because they **are** the elites. It’s all governments of the rich working for the rich and you’re not in the club.

  8. > The government has to regulate prices, regulate housing 

    why add supply when you could simply subsidize even more demand and make everything worse 😏🧠 checkmate capitalistas

  9. It’s the home owners faults they sell for a higher price. It’s literally the people’s own fault

  10. i_hate_blackpink on

    My first place I rented for 4 years which I left in 2023 is still available to rent at double what I paid. I hope landlords stub their toe.

  11. DavidlikesPeace on

    World news has so many articles about toxic nationalists and religious fundamentalists. It really discourages my view of human nature. 

    It’s encouraging to see people protest a real issue that effects their real lives. Sure the existence of the problem is bad, but actions against such problems are good. Housing and healthcare and employment issues matter far more than making a country or religion look bigger on a map

  12. Dangeroustrain on

    We should be marching here to. And we should stop letting corporations buy up properties to flip and rent then out.

  13. If housing isn’t being constructed in sufficient quantities, then have the government offer a contract to a large builder to build thousands of new homes of mixed densities. (which the government sells at a slight profit to recoup the cost of the contract+expenses)

    If the problem is speculators, then do the same, but restrict sales to individuals who are required to actually live in on the property.

    Keep doing this until it becomes too risky to be a housing speculator. Or until builders realize they are losing market access unless they follow suit in similar quantities.

  14. Scared-Enthusiasm777 on

    I feel like property and real estate laws need to be addressed globally. Real estate is one of the scummiest markets out there.

    One of my biggest gripes is that companies can buy up single-family homes in the masses. This allows them to artificially drive up the sale price, or to rent them out at prohibitive rates. There was a company that was going door-to-door making offers on homes in my parent’s subdivision. A few of their neighbors went for it, and they almost did as well until they realized they would be put into a horrible buyer’s market.

    I believe that the sale of single-family homes need to be regulated, and that rent prices need to be regulated as well. Coming up with, and subsequently implementing these regs is a different beast altogether.