shocking statistics
 

"Young people in Spain need to spend 94% of salary to rent own place"

“I would love to move out, but it is an expense I cannot afford,” says Patricia Barcala, a 24-year-old who earns €1,000 a month as a digital consultant in Madrid. She has been considering renting an apartment with her boyfriend “but it is crazy,” she says. “Those that are minimally decent do not go for less than €1,200 [a month].”

from the article:
https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/12/18...83_164627.html

Geez, digital consultants make only E1000? So how does a supermarket worker make?

Are short term rentals to tourists to blame for long term rental prices going through the roof thus ruining Patricia Barcala's life? Assuming her boyfriend has a job and also makes E1000 a month they'll never be able to afford children or a car if rent for a decent place is E1200.

Re: shocking statistics
 

Madrid is no different to London, Paris, Berlin or any other major European city. Venture outside of the Capital or large cities such as Barca, Seville etc and rents are more favourable where for 450-550€ per month you can get a decent 2 bed apt.

Re: shocking statistics
 

One of the first things I learnt about young Spanish people ( approx. 15 yrs ago) was they were still at home into their late 20's and older. The Spanish teacher was 27 and could not afford to move and said most could not. A lot of owners do not do 12 month rentals. They can earn more from short term rentals especially through Easter to October. At least that was I found when looking longer term rentals.

Several years ago I was talking to a Portuguese lady who along with her husband took home just over 800 euros for 2 full time jobs. Her rent was 400 + for what she called a hovel. They could not afford to have children and both were looking second jobs :-( I think it was in Lithuania that the top government official earned 800 a month ! He was apologising for the lack of an official car, they only one and mayor was out in it. He was using his own old Lada. Cleaned and polished to a mirror effect.

Re: shocking statistics
 

Its not that shocking, its the same almost everywhere.

Tourists are not to blame. Its mainly landlords who keep putting up rent, knowing full well that people HAVE to pay these amounts.
We have the same problem in Shoreham by sea, West Sussex.

My son will be looking for a place soon and for a bedsit around here its about £650 a month. He earns £800. And you have to add council tax to that as well.

Usually if the rents are cheap its because there is no work in the area.

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As others said rental situation is not much better in other capital cities. At Mercadona online I found the following offer for shop assistant 40 hour week: Salary:
€ 1,328 gross / month with wage progression
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...2408107ed.jpeg

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I've spoken to quite a few bartenders, waiting staff etc. in Valencia and they seem to do okay on their wages, they have their own places or live in flat-shares, which is no different to home in South-East. I had a flat-share for €350 a month whilst I narrowed down where I wanted to live; I now have a lovely two-bedroom apartment in a great location for €900. I could rent out my spare room, but I don't need to.

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the rents in the cities are alot higher, but the average wage is only €1000 a month. The boom is gone, the rents are rising.

We were looking to move recently, and what we are in at the moment is around half the price of the equivalent house within 30 minutes of the airport.

The land lady said she wants to put the rent up next year (after we have been here 4 years) and we told her that we would be moving out. To be honest.. depending on how much she puts it up.. it will probably still be the cheapest place we can find !

Re: shocking statistics
 

When I first moved to Spain, to be a 'mileurista' (to earn 1000€ per month) was something to be pitied. Now for many it's something to aspire to. The boom in tourism and airbnb is reducing the supply of long term lets and causing rents to rise out of the reach of ordinary working spaniards who are being forced to move futher and further from their home cities in order to find affordable accommodation.

The we have politicians lamenting the low birth rate.

The problem will have knock-on effects for decades. Pensions go much further when you've paid off your mortgage than when you're still having to find monthly rent payments.

Re: shocking statistics
 

The long term rental prices have shot up due to what I believe is a combination of factors but at the end of the day it comes down to supply and demand - ie lots want but not enough available.

Demand created by people who don't want the perceived risk of owning want flexibility and no commitment. Some think it is cheaper no maintenance, community costs etc.

Availability has been affected by owners placing their properties onto AirBNB and the like to make more money (mind out income taxed more and other on costs but still...)

Given the incredibly low-interest rates I still would have thought buying is a good long term bet but people have different ideas and priorities.

Re: shocking statistics
 

Yep and every part of the country will have different challenges. If you look at Madrid the difference between sales available and rentals available is huge

Map of Madrid: homes for sale,
See the 27,145 homes

Map of Madrid: homes for rent,

See the 11,156 homes

Re: shocking statistics
 

There's a lot to factor in. The 24-year-old in Spain earning €1,000 a month I assume is earning the Spanish minimum wage which is €1,050 a month. The equivalent for a 24-year-old in the UK would be £1,334.66 per month (£7.70 per hour) but the cost of living in the UK is much, much higher. Finding a job earning NMW I imagine is a lot easier in the UK than Spain, for sure, but who aspires to be working in a minimum wage job? It kills me that people with no education, no skills, no drive etc. complain that working in retail doesn't pay well enough- perhaps if they'd studied harder or applied themselves more then they wouldn't be in that position, as there are massive, massive amounts of skilled job vacancies in the UK.

I have a two-bed apartment in the UK that I rent out for £1,100.00 a month, the Council Tax comes in at £160.00 a month and Service Charge comes in at £150.00 a month.
I have a two-bed apartment in Valencia that I rent for €900.00 a month, the equivalent to Council Tax comes in at €11.66 a month and there is no Service Charge.

My bills in Spain are also considerably less, as is my cost of living. Taking my two properties as an example...

* two people both on National Minimum Wage renting my place in the UK and paying 50% of the rent and Council Tax each would come to 47.2% of their gross income.
* two people both on Spanish Minimum Wage renting my place in Spain and paying 50% of the rent and Council Tax each would come to 43.4% of their gross income.

Again, apart from my internet, my bills are cheaper in Spain as is my cost of living, especially with things like eating/drinking out and travel.

Re: shocking statistics
 

It's easy to calculate that way, but as you say there's a lot more to factor in. You have to look at real wages vs. cost of living. How many people can't get a job in Spain, how many people earn more than minimum, what about allowances, benefits, tax reliefs? At the end of the day it's the individual situation that counts. If I were to move to Spain today, the salaries on offer would mean I'd be losing over 50% of disposable income.

Re: shocking statistics
 

oh how things have changed from 20 years ago.

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It is incredibly presumptuous to expect to be able to rent a flat in the centre of a capital city on a first job salary. Anywhere. She can either do what most people do and rent a room somewhere further out, or she can stay at home and work on increasing her salary until she can afford to rent a flat. i.e. work out what skills are in demand, work on gaining those skills and then start applying for better jobs. So many people in Spain place a ceiling on their salaries themselves because they won't work the market. They accept the first job offer they receive and spend the rest of their working lives in the same company, complaining that their salary is too low. Too few people work on improving their job skills, although plenty seem keen on doing meaningless "masters" in esoteric subjects that don't provide people with hard skills, but they get a nice certificate at the end. There are plenty of high paid jobs in Madrid, which companies struggle to fill, and which only require a few years of relevant experience, but too few people seem capable of gaining those skills.

Re: shocking statistics
 

This! And it's not just a Spanish thing, it's an issue in the UK, too.

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That is very rare though and the reality is very different. If you're earning 5,500 a month as a Service Desk Manager, so 100K a year you belong to the top wealthiest percentage in Spain, or even in Europe. Even doctors & IT professionals in other European countries don't earn what you earn.

Re: shocking statistics
 

Am I missing something, €5,500 a month is €66,00 a year not 100K

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If taking home €5,500 a month, it's 100K Gross.

Re: shocking statistics
 

As he is a autónomo (early 2019 post) , he must have a very impressive customer base ;-) or perhaps he could just be exaggerating a bit
From his posts he is one of the people that think Spain is perfect and all Spaniards are super nice

Re: shocking statistics
 

Why would someone exaggerate on a forum? Having a six figure income isn't that crazy if you're smart and/or willing to work hard. I paid myself £107k last year and this year will be closer to £120k.

It does kill me when people earning £18k a year working in Paperchase think they can up sticks and move to another country for a better life. Madness, but this forum is full of them.
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I actually can't believe that you typed the words I've bolded, anyone who boasts of their salary on the web, in my opinion they are lying or exaggerating, to sum up I think you're telling porkies.

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Yes and it is very selfish to say something like that. A lot of people in Spain and other countries work hard and will never earn these amounts and to say they are not smart is horrible. The poster with 5,500€ was on 32k after overtime in London 2 years ago, so should know how it is and maybe also forgot to pay tax in Spain, or is extremely lucky.

Re: shocking statistics
 

so the guy supposedly taking home over 5,500 € a month in Murcia posted this exactly one year ago (January 2019)!
​​​​​​'I am a British citizen born and bred. I earn over £30,000 per annum (not including annual bonuses).'

I really don't understand why people exaggerate their salaries on public forums, do they think it makes them look MORE important than
the average worker
I'm not gonna comment at all on the 'Born and Bred' bit;)

Re: shocking statistics
 

I wish i earned 5500 a month.. I'd even take the 32k.. Come to think of it, i would take half! I would be happy with 16k !!!

Ive worked 9 years in the same company, and never had a pay rise. This year, my hourly rate actually went down...

Re: shocking statistics
 

You haven't had a pay rise in 9 years? Not even in line with inflation? That's crazy. Why haven't you pushed for a pay rise / promotion or jumped ship?

I don't mean to sound rude but how do you survive earning less than €16k a year?

Re: shocking statistics
 

​​​Sorry, I should have clarified that- why would anyone exaggerate their income on an expat forum? It's not a business forum, not a car enthusiast forum etc. where it can sometimes become a big **** contest.

Re: shocking statistics
 

My company is one of the leading global Managed Service Providers, and I’ve been fortunate to have pay rises and bonuses without fail every year for the last 6 years. <snip>

How am I in spain? My wife is battling cancer and due to these reasons I had to leave London to support her in Spain during her treatment. My company did not wish to let me go, so allowed me to work remotely. My then boss found his dream job and having worked alongside him for the last 6 years, and my company winning business in Spain with BBVA, I was in a good position to take his role and lead the support and refresh project in person. I think it’s as much luck to be right person in right place as it is who you know rather than what.

Along with bonuses and management incentives, thanks to Brexit and my now accountant my take home is €5500 a month.

im 40 years old and doing quite well in my career, if you want to professionally LinkIn with me just message.

London is quite unique in its salary offerings, my younger brother is a NEID (non exec independent director) for a private American legal firm in Mayfair and with overtime he takes home £15,000 a month. I still think this article is relative to what you do and where you do it. I’ve always pushed for pay rises and got them. If it’s not working for the article subject she should look further afield in my honest opinion.