WEBVTT

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Málaga: birthplace of 
Pablo Picasso

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and a popular destination 
for tourists all year round.

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Tiziana Procopio is a local resident.

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She likes the climate 
and the people here.

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But the 45-year-old shares an
apartment with two other women,

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 as it's all she can afford.

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"I wanted to finally have my own 

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apartment instead of sharing one.

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But that's what I'm
having to do again.

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This was all I could find.

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It's tough."

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Her problem is exacerbated by
the many tourist apartments.

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Researcher Enrique Navarro 

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conducted one of 
several assessments

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of how the city is changing.

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"Apartment rents are

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higher in tourist destinations.

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That's nothing new.

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The problem is the speed

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at which it's happening here."

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Over the past eight years,
the number of AirBnBs in Malaga

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has jumped from 800 to over
12,000 apartments – now missing 

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on the regular market.

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This has led rents in the 
city center to rise by up to €90

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a month – but that's not
all …

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"The rise in rent prices in the

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center also has an impact on a
neighborhood 3 kilometers away.

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It leads to an increase
in rent prices for apartments in

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other parts of town."

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Tiziana Procopio has
seen what that's meant for

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friends and acquaintances.

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"People are having to move.

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Some are now living

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in surrounding villages.

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On the one hand that's OK,

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because those villages will grow.

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The trouble is: 

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it wasn't a voluntary decision.

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They had no other choice."

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In Málaga and other cities,
the Spanish government is already

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building thousands of new
apartments with EU funding.

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In Madrid, the city council is
putting up new social housing 

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blocks like this one.

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The monthly rent for the units
comprising one room with a 

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kitchen and bathroom 
will be €500.

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"With the 2,000+ apartments

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built in the last five years, 

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the Madrid housing authority 

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now has 9,200 rental units.

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Plus 6,200 other apartments

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planned or under construction."

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But Madrid's population grew
by 120,000 in just one year alone.

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A lottery for 270 new social
housing apartments attracted

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14,000 applicants.

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Demand for new apartments
is huge – throughout the country.

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"The population is growing 

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by an average of 230,000 

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new households per year, 

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and for years now, 

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new apartment construction 

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has been under 100,000 per year.

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And that deficit adds up.

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According to figures from the 
Spanish central bank, 

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there's currently a shortage 
of 600,000 apartments."

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The gap between supply and
demand is immediately apparent

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 from real estate window displays.

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The apartments offered are
pricy, but they're snapped up fast.

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"It's a huge problem, because

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it impacts middle class people.

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With their current wages and the

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continuing rise in prices, they can

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no longer afford an
apartment in the city."

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The government uses money
from the EU's recovery fund to

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construct new homes.

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There are also plans to free up
millions of square meters of land 

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for building – like this
still grassy site in Madrid.

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A quick fix for a chronic problem?

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Far from it.

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"The main issue is the land.

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Our data suggests it could take

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an average of 10-15 years for the

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land to have the infrastructure 

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to be ready for development.

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Given the housing
shortage, that's way too long.

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And then there are the
high construction costs

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and labor shortages."

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But there are other solutions.

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Marinaleda is a village
of 2,500 residents an hour's

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drive outside Málaga.

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The mayor explains what
makes the place special.

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"We see housing as a
right, not a business."

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He shows us what that
means not far from the town hall.

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A new neighborhood built 
with the help of the 

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residents themselves – 
including the mayor.

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Now they're constructing
even more apartments.

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It's a project that's
been ongoing for 40 years now.

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"We don't understand how social

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housing only makes up 2.5% of 

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housing stock in this country, 

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while the Europe-wide average

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is almost 10%.

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In Marinaleda we're trying to
guarantee that people have a roof

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over their heads.

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We want to ensure that residents
only pay a small amount:

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a symbolic sum of 
€15-20 a month."

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An exceedingly low rent – 

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although the apartments 
and surrounding land

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are owned by the village.

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But how does it manage to pay
for construction, with the minimal

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revenue earned from those rents?

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"We also try to get funding 
from other authorities – 

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from the EU or the 
Andalusian regional government.

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Other towns get
that funding, too –

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but we use it to build 
social housing.

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We currently have over 300
apartments: they house a third of 

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the population of Marinaleda."

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Marinaleda has been governed for
decades by the United Left party.

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Still, the mayor fails to see
why other communities are not 

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taking a similar approach.

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"If Marinaleda with its 2,500 

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residents can build up to 

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26 apartment buildings

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every 4 or 5 years, 

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just think what towns and cities 
that have far more land

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and far greater economic 
resources could do.

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You just need to have the political
will, and make access to housing

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an absolute priority."

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Whether Spain can successfully

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tackle these housing shortages is

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a matter of political will –

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requiring the government and

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opposition working together.

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Unless real change happens soon,
renters' frustration will become a

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big problem for Spain's politicians.