A housing crisis engulfing Spain has now reached such great proportions that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an early election on Monday.
Sanchez called the election for 29 November in a bid to strengthen his support after huge demonstrations across Spain over the weekend, but it is a major gamble – if it backfires, it could usher in the far right at a time when populism is making gains across Europe.
Experts say the UK faces similar problems to Spain in terms of a lack of affordable housing and rising prices that outpace wages, as well as the growing threat of the hard right.
Spain has built fewer homes per capita than any other developed country over the past ten years and has a shortfall of 750,000 houses, according to the Bank of Spain. Half of all young adults now live with their parents in Spain, up from 33 per cent in 2005, according to research by the Real Elcano Institute, a think-tank in Madrid. Rents in Spain have doubled in the past decade, according to the Spanish central bank.
In Britain, the government has promised to build 1.5 million homes during this parliament, but analysts say this is not enough. A 2025 report for the Centre for Policy Studies, a centre-right UK think-tank, found Britain had a shortfall of 6.5 million homes, based on 2023 figures.
Polls show Sanchez’s Socialist Party and left-wing allies trailing a possible coalition of the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox. A survey published in El Pais newspaper in September showed the PP and Vox would attract over half of all votes for the first time.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a snap election for 29 November (Photo: Cristina Quicler / AFP via Getty Images)Steven Forti, a professor of contemporary history at the Autonomous University in Barcelona, said this was a warning for Britain over the potential rise of parties including Reform UK that are also “anti-globalisation, liberalism, wokeism, political-correctness, and in favour of re-emigration”.
Andy Burnham’s Labour government is experiencing its highest ratings since its landslide victory in 2024, prompting calls for an early election. But despite its steady lead over Reform in the polls, Labour remains under threat from Nigel Farage’s party.
A poll tracker for The Economist published on 2 October found Labour garnered 27 per cent of votes, Reform 22 per cent, and the Conservatives 20 per cent.
If Sánchez loses the election in Spain, it would spell the end one of Europe’s last left-leaning governments at a time when populism and the far right has made gains in Germany, Italy and France.
Spain’s government is one of the few in Europe to encourage migration, which has led to a surge in new arrivals. One in five of the population of nearly 50 million was not born in the country.
Like Burnham, Sanchez has several advantages. He presides over the fastest-growing economy in the eurozone, with growth predicted to rise by 2.4-2.6 per cent this year compared with the eurozone average of 0.8-1.1 per cent.
He is skilled political operator and has also been lauded as one of the few international leaders to stand up to US President Donald Trump by condemning the war in Iran and Israel’s war in Gaza.
But all this may not be enough. Many Spaniards cannot forgive the prime minister for bringing in an amnesty for Catalan separatists who were jailed for provoking the worst political crisis in decades when they staged a failed independence bid in 2017.
Corruption scandals involving Sanchez’s family and close aides and the perceived mishandling of the Ceuta migrant incursion this summer have also alienated voters from the Socialist leader.
The housing protests were triggered by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid flat where she had lived for decades, which is owned by an investment company. A European Commission report on housing needs on the continent found Madrid, Barcelona were among the areas with biggest need for house building – with the country’s surging tourist sector and the arrival of digital nomads pushing up house prices.
Sanchez’s party proposed banning investors from buying homes until 2028 and offering renters more protection, but this was defeated in a key vote in parliament on Friday, prompting tens of thousands to take to the streets.
Now, Spain is facing major upheaval and instability. The rest of Europe would be wise to look for lessons on how to avoid such a fate.
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