Have you had trouble trying to find a rental apartment in Spain or are you in the process of moving here and worried about finding somewhere? Each apartment in Spain now see an average of 41 interested parties.
Despite all the measures put in place over the last year, Spain’s housing crisis continues and seems to be getting worse.
In many Spanish cities, trying to find a rental property seems like an impossible task with lack of availability, high costs and restrictions in place.
In the first quarter of 2026, each listing on Idealista property portal received an average of 41 enquiries, that’s 17 percent more than in the same period in 2025.
It’s now not enough to be able to just afford increasingly expensive rental costs, you also have to fight to secure a home in limited and highly competitive market.
In populous cities like Barcelona, the situation is even worse. Each property there now receives an average of 99 enquiries, making Barcelona the city in Spain with the most rental competition.
Rent in the Catalan capital has now risen to an average cost of €1,153 per month, with many being priced out of the market entirely.
The story is not much better in other cities.
In Palma de Mallorca, each apartment sees 69 interested parties, in Madrid it’s 47, while in San Sebastián it’s 45. Bilbao and Valencia are just behind with 42 and 35 enquiries respectively.
Behind this surge in people looking for an apartment, lies a marked imbalance between supply and demand.
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In Catalonia, regulated rents, population growth, and changes in the residential market are reducing the number of homes available. As a result, finding a place to live is an increasingly demanding process.
Landlords receive dozens of applications for each apartment and of course prioritise applicants with greater financial resources and stability. This is making it more and more difficult for young people particularly, and those with average incomes, to access housing.
According to the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) in February 2026, 42.8 percent of respondents said housing is the main problem currently facing Spain, while 27.6 percent also said it was the problem affecting them the most personally.
READ ALSO: Spain to offer 100 percent tax rebate to landlords who don’t raise rents
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According to CaixaBank Research, Spain now has a housing deficit of over 730,000 homes. The deficit can be seen across the country with the only exceptions being Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country, Cáceres in Extremadura and Soria in Castilla y León.
The Bank of Spain mainly attributes the problems to population growth, the concentration of people in large urban areas, and the shift of residential demand toward rentals.
Idealista has also calculated that the rental supply in Spain has decreased by 61 percent since 2020, a decline that reaches 90 percent in Barcelona and 73 percent in Madrid.
The rise of rental costs is of course a big factor too. According to Idealista, at the end of 2025 rents had increased 8.5 percent over the year, reaching an average price of €14.7 per square meter in December.
According to The Bank of Spain, the regions and urban areas where economic and tourist activity are most pronounced are also those seeing the largest rent increases.
