Jorge Galindo, director of the Esade Centre for Economic Policy, says that the available data does not provide a clear picture of how many Spanish properties are owned by so‑called vulture funds and used for speculation.
He cites Bank of Spain figures from 2024 indicating that only 8 % of rental properties are owned by companies.
From the data, Galindo concludes that there is no significant concentration of rental properties among a small group of owners in Spain.
“When it comes to explaining the rise in rentals, that is not the big cause,” he says. “What drives the increase is the mismatch between supply and demand over recent years.”
The Bank of Spain agrees, estimating a housing deficit of roughly 750,000 homes nationwide.
Deputy Governor Soledad Núñez warned in September that the gap could reach one million by 2028.
INE reports 3.8 million vacant properties in Spain, but many are located in depopulated rural areas and thus have limited impact on the current crisis, which is most severe in urban centres.
Other factors include properties awaiting renovation or legal disputes among heirs.
Demographic shifts are a key driver of the supply‑demand imbalance.
Between 2021 and 2025, roughly 1.2 million new households formed, largely due to migrant arrivals that have bolstered Spain’s recent economic growth.
Nevertheless, construction has lagged, delivering fewer than 500,000 new homes in the same period.
The shortfall reflects a construction sector that contracted after the Eurozone crisis, rising material costs post‑COVID, and legal hurdles stemming from a lack of political consensus on development.
“Building new houses was not a priority for us,” Galindo says. “When the demographic surge arrived, we realised how costly that omission had become.”
He notes that short‑term rentals such as Airbnb, often cited as a culprit by the government and activists, likely exert only a localised impact, driving up prices in particular urban districts rather than affecting the market as a whole.
