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RENTING

Where can I rent a studio for a good price in Spain in 2024?

Want to rent your own place in Spain but not sure if you can afford regular apartment prices? This breakdown of the monthly rental costs for studio apartments in Spain's 50 main cities will help you know where to get a good deal.

Published: 17 January 2024 09:28 CET
Updated: 20 January 2024 07:03 CET
Where can I rent a studio for a good price in Spain in 2024?
Find out where you can rent a studio in Spain without breaking the bank. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

In Spain, it’s seen as a luxury to be able to afford to live on your own in a studio, rather than in a flatshare. Many young people still live at home because they can’t afford to move out, while others have no choice but to share accommodation with others.

A report by NGO Ayuda en Acción in 2023, revealed that 64 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 34 in Spain continue to live with their parents.

Recent data from property portal Idealista shows that the average cost of a room in a shared flat was €380 for November 2023 compared to an average of €700 a month for a studio. This means that living alone in Spain is on average 84 percent more expensive than sharing. 

The price of renting a studio in Spain increased by 12 percent last year while renting a room rose by 9 percent. 

To be clear, a studio apartment is a flat consisting of a single large room serving as bedroom and living room and often kitchen, with a separate bathroom. They’re cosy but they can still serve as comfortable homes in central locations for people wanting independence.

READ ALSO: What will happen to rents in Spain in 2024?

Despite the difference in prices, the supply of studios in Spain has been reduced by 7 percent over the past year, while demand has increased by 39 percent. The supply of rooms, on the other hand, has grown by 38 percent.

If you want to live on your own in Spain rather than a shared property, it’s important to consider where to base yourself, so that you can make sure your budget will cover your rent. 

Thankfully, there are still many places in Spain where renting a studio is more affordable than others.

The most affordable cities in Spain to rent a studio

The cheapest city to rent a studio in is Ciudad Real at €350 per month, followed by Lleida in Catalonia (€390), then Palencia in Castilla y León and Teruel in Aragón (both €425). Coming in joint fifth place are Caceres in Extremadura and Oviedo in Asturias (€430).

The next five cheapest places to rent a studio are Cuenca and Murcia (€435), Jaén, Salamanca and Zamora (€450).

The most expensive places in Spain to rent a studio

Surprisingly, the most expensive city to rent a studio in Spain isn’t the capital of Madrid, it’s the Basque city of Vitoria i Gasteiz at €1,000 per month.

This was followed by Barcelona at €960, Valencia at €935, then Palma de Mallorca, Madrid, San Sebastián and Bilbao at €850.

The next four most expensive places were Málaga (€760), Alicante (€750), Pamplona (€720) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (€700). 

The difference in price between renting a studio vs renting a room

The biggest difference between rooms and studios was again in Vitoria i Gasteiz, where studios are 176 percent more expensive. They were followed by Zamora (165 percent more expensive), Badajoz (151 percent), Valencia (147 percent), Albacete (140 percent) and Segovia (131 percent).

The smallest differences were found in Lleida (studios are only 37 percent more expensive than rooms), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (51 percent) and Murcia (55 percent).

Here is a breakdown of average monthly rents for estudios (studios) compared to habitaciones (rooms) in Spain’ 50 provincial capitals.

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MONEY

Spain’s wealth disparity grows as the young get poorer and retirees richer

New data released by the Bank of Spain has revealed that the difference in wealth between Spanish baby boomers, millennials and Gen Z keeps growing.

Published: 23 May 2024 11:20 CEST
Spain's wealth disparity grows as the young get poorer and retirees richer

Wealth disparity in Spain continues to widen, with the young becoming poorer and older Spaniards and retirees enjoying higher levels of wealth than before. This is according to findings from the Survey of Household Finances report by the Banco de España.

In headline terms, the report reveals that the average net wealth in Spain in 2022 stood at €309,000 and the median net wealth €142,700.

This translates to average growth of 3.7 percent compared with 2020 levels, but median wealth rose by just 0.5 percent in that period. This represents slower growth than during the 2017-2020 period (4.8 percent and 6.8 percent respectively).

READ ALSO: Will there be no public pensions in Spain in the future?

However, the most striking aspect of the report was the growing disparity between older and younger Spaniards.

Dubbed the ‘generation gap’ by sections of the Spanish press, this wealth disparity has widened over the last five years, rewarding pensioners and leaving the under 40s, the only group to lose wealth overall between 2017 to 2022, increasingly behind when it comes to both net and median wealth, but also asset ownership.

But some groups in Spain saw significant increases in wealth. “Median wealth increased substantially in households in the top two deciles of the income distribution (11.4 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively), in older households (19 percent), in those where the head of the family has a university education and across the net wealth distribution,” the report stated.

The younger generations, however, didn’t do so well. Those between 20 and 40 years of age have gone from a median net wealth of €96,700 in 2020 to €86,100 in 2022.

On the other hand, Spaniards between 60 and 80 – a high percentage of whom are pensioners – saw the most notable rise in average wealth, with a net increase of €51,600.

As for the rest of the age brackets, those under 20 years of age had the lowest wealth levels overall. Median wealth went from €45,900 in 2020 to €38,800, a loss of €7,100.

Though the report did highlight the connection between educational levels and higher average income, it also pinpointed asset ownership as a major driver of wealth disparity.

READ ALSO: What’s considered a decent salary in Spain?

According to the report, wealth in Spain remains concentrated in ‘real assets’, accounting for 78.9 percent of total assets. Of these, property is by far the most significant, accounting for 52.9 percent of the value of real assets for all households and 41.7 percent of the value of total assets at the end of 2022.

Clearly, with rising property and rental prices around Spain and high youth unemployment rates, it is increasingly difficult for younger Spaniards (meaning up to age 40) to get on the property ladder and become asset holders.

Overall, average wealth levels fell in younger households (defined as under 45 years of age), households headed by self-employed people, households headed by people without a university education, and households that do not own their own home.

This comes in stark contrast to older and retired Spaniards who not only receive pensions, but are largely homeowners, have been for some time, and likely bought their properties some time ago when they were far cheaper as a proportion of income.

The report’s findings come amid ongoing concerns about the medium to long-term demographic future of Spain. This is particularly centred on the public pensions system, with worries that the an ageing population and flatlining birth rates, combined with the imminent retirement of the baby boomer generation, means that Spain could need millions of foreign workers to prop up its pensions system in the coming decades.

READ ALSO: Spain needs 25 million foreign workers to keep its pensions afloat

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