Spaniards are fed up with tourists. In the background, the growing homelessness crisis

For the first time in a long time, he has his own bed. “I will dream tonight and sleep like a baby,” says Francisco Carrilo. After three years of sleeping in the back of a theater, Emerty now has a real home. A small apartment in Madrid was provided to him by a charity. The 62-year-old cannot afford to pay rent in the capital, where he moved from the south of the country to begin treatment for throat cancer.

The man is one of a growing number of Spaniards who have found themselves in a homeless crisis due to rising housing prices. “I feel like I won the lottery. Right now, a set of keys is worth more than winning the lottery,” says Jose Manual Guendiano, a participant in a rental housing program for people in a homeless crisis.

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Both Francisco and Jose received their apartments through a social investment fund. The fund has already purchased about 230 apartments and is renting them out to 50 different non-governmental organizations. It charges rents 30 percent below market rates.

– No one else will rent a property to such people. If we buy it and make it available on the market for non-governmental organizations to lease, we generate a return on rent for ourselves and help at the same time. We can provide people with shelter, employment and a decent life – says Maria Herrero, director of Transcendent Consultants.

In April, the initiative debuted on the Spanish stock exchange thanks to cooperation with 33 business partners. – Our goal is to buy even more apartments to allow more people in the homeless crisis to be accommodated – says Vlanca Hernandez, founder of the Techo Social Fund Investment Fund.

There are 48,000 people on the waiting list for social housing in Madrid. The need will only grow.

– This is a speculative bubble. Several unknown people here are buying up apartments that were once used by locals and renting them out for a short term, generating profit for themselves. Prices are rising and residents are being evicted because they cannot afford their own place – says Pablo Campos, a railway employee and resident of Madrid.

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Pablo Campos and retiree Carmen Cajamarca live in the same block in Madrid’s Lavapiés district and recently received letters ordering them to vacate their rented apartments after the building was sold to an Argentine fund that renovates holiday rentals.

– People who have lived here for years are being evicted. They are being thrown out onto the streets. They say that several million tourists visit us and we need housing for them. But what about us, the people who have been here forever? We are not animals. Even though tourists have more money than us, the authorities should take this situation into account – says Carmen Cajamarca, a retiree.

Short-term rentals are causing increasing emotions in Spain. Waves of protests are rolling through Barcelona. A few days ago, some demonstrators pointed water pistols at tourists, shouting “get out”. The incident was condemned by the tourism minister.

– This is an action that must be condemned. This way of expressing oneself is contrary to the values ​​that guide our country – commented Spanish Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu.

Barcelona, ​​which has a population of just over 1.5 million, welcomed some 26 million visitors last year. The city’s mayor announced in June that authorities would limit or even ban short-term rentals by 2028.