Europamagazin: An upswing that the Spaniards are not feeling

Europamagazin Crisis in the housing market An upswing that the Spaniards are not feeling As of: November 15, 2026 • 5:11 a.m

The Spanish economy is growing - but the upswing is not reaching people. The housing crisis and high costs of living dominate the election campaign. Prime Minister Sánchez is threatened with being voted out in two weeks.

It is said that a stable economic situation benefits those in power in elections. Things are different in Spain: the economy is growing, investors are lining up. But what good is that if citizens can't afford housing and if they lose trust after two catastrophic train accidents? The early parliamentary elections could backfire for the Social Democratic Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Bet that opposition leader Feijóo will become prime minister this time? This and similar sentences are likely to be used frequently somewhere in Spain at the moment. And you can even make money with it in Spain. In addition to sports betting, betting on the outcome of the election is also permitted in Spain - unlike in Germany.

The conservative Partido Popular led by Sánchez's competitor Alberto Núñez Feijóo is actually ahead at the bookmakers, as well as in almost all surveys. After a good eight years, many Spaniards have apparently had enough of their current head of government.

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo from the Conservatives hopes to become the next head of government.

But why? Spain's economy is growing - a factor that tends to benefit those in power in Germany. And unlike Germany, Spain can even look back on several years with good growth rates, most recently an increase of 2.8 percent in 2025 (Germany 0.2 percent). Contrary to what many believe, Spain no longer lives solely from tourism and agriculture.

This is shown, for example, by a visit to a company in the hinterland of the Costa Blanca near Alicante: In a hall in an industrial area that appears inconspicuous from the outside, 600 employees of the company PLD Space design and produce rockets with which, for example, satellites can be transported into space.

The founders Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú built model rockets together at university in their hometown of Elche and turned it into a business. They consciously chose the location in Elche. “I believe that Spain is an industrial leader,” says Raúl Verdú in an interview with the ARD studio in Madrid. This is not well known, but nowadays you can build any vehicle in Spain, including rockets.

Companies like PLD Space are constantly hiring employees - a success that the Spanish government recently celebrated at an international debate forum in Barcelona: With 22.8 million employees, Spain recently reached a record number.

From his point of view, developments in recent years have been quite good, said Prime Minister Sánchez. "We are showing a possible path in which you don't have to choose between growth and environmental protection."

Raúl Verdú is one of the founders of the rocket manufacturer PLD Space - the thriving company has 600 employees.

Spain's economic engine is running. But growth does not automatically mean prosperity for everyone. Economist Raymond Torres, director of international analysis at the think tank Funcas, sees Spain in a paradoxical situation: "The economy is doing well, but the citizens' perception is different."

The reason for this is the lack of living space. Housing is an extremely important issue for Spanish society. Added to this is the high cost of living. Both of these things together apparently mean that Spaniards do not feel the good economic data and certainly do not attribute it to their government.

Housing shortages and expensive lives - that's exactly what made Gonzalo Àlvaro an activist. The 27-year-old sales representative lived for years in shared apartments with strangers who couldn't find an apartment even in expensive Madrid. Although he is happy that he has now found a small apartment with his girlfriend, the two of them still cannot save anything. Like more than 70 percent of Spaniards, they would like to live in their own home. Impossible, given the situation on the real estate market.

With his friends in his homeland of Cantabria in the north of Spain, it is completely normal for them to continue living at home at that age. "If I were still there, I would probably still live with my parents without any problem" - just as a good 68 percent of young Spaniards between the ages of 18 and 34 still live at home. In comparison, in Germany it is only around 32 percent.

The Social Democrat Sánchez has led the government in Spain since 2018 - according to surveys, he could be replaced in the election in two weeks by an alliance of conservatives and right-wing nationalists.

Gonzalo has been involved in the "Sindicato de Inquilinos", the tenants' association, which describes itself as a union in Spain, for several years. The day before the general strike, Gonzalo distributed leaflets and mobilized people on the streets to join in the strike. “Huelga general por la vivienda” (“General strike for housing”) can be read on it, under a fighting fist with an apartment key.

The fact that protests against the housing shortage succeeded in turning into a Spain-wide general strike makes him proud. The initial spark for this was the image of the now deceased pensioner Maricarmen, which caused outrage across the country when her apartment was evicted and she was carried out on a stretcher because she could no longer pay the rent that had been increased by the new homeowner.

“That spark may have been needed to ignite the fire for the movement,” Gonzalo said. Ultimately, all of this led to the end of the Sánchez government, which did nothing on the housing issue for eight years. And then she also exploited the protests and tried to capitalize on them.

After the first major protests, the left-wing minority government wanted, among other things, to ban housing purchases by “locust” funds and restrict forced evictions. However, she did not get a majority for the corresponding decrees.

Prime Minister Sánchez then brought forward the election and hoped to score points with the housing market issue. Whether the calculation would work was controversial from the start. Ever since the recent train accident on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, more and more people have been doubting this.

Gonzalo Àlvaro has been campaigning against rising rents for years and has been promoting the general strike with leaflets.

At the start of the current election campaign, opposition leader Feijóo made it clear which issues he wanted to score points with: Everything is getting worse: the trains, the highways, the security precautions, squatting, according to Feijóo: "Uncontrolled immigration is even worse. And the worst thing is that nobody seems to care."

Feijóos' and Sánchez's parties are quite close to each other in the polls - as in the 2023 election. But Sánchez's left-wing partners are in a bad position. And this time Feijóo could even achieve an absolute majority with the right-wing nationalist party Vox.

There is no firewall in Spain. The country could move significantly to the right after the election. Vox is campaigning with remigration and the concept of national priority: Spaniards first in housing and social benefits.

Meanwhile, one of the current government's housing crisis decrees was passed in the interim parliament.

The 120,000 demonstrators who demonstrated last Wednesday despite pouring rain in Madrid alone on the day of the nationwide general strike should be happy about this. Activist Gonzalo sees the strike as a complete success. Some on the left may hope that the mobilization will provide momentum for the elections. But it is questionable whether more potential voters in betting shops are now betting on Sánchez's victory.

You can see these and other reports in the Europamagazin on Sunday at 12:45 p.m. on Erste.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | An upswing that the Spaniards are not feeling | 11/14/2026 | 12.45 p.m. tagesschau.de | Election campaign in Spain | 11/14/2026 | 05:11 am