The measure was one of a dozen unveiled on Monday by the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, as the government seeks to quell mounting anger over housing costs that have soared far beyond the reach of many in Spain.
Sánchez sought to underline the global nature of the challenge, citing housing prices that had swelled 48% in the past decade across Europe, far outpacing household incomes.
“The west faces a decisive challenge: to not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and poor tenants,” he told an economic forum in Madrid.
The proposed measures include expanding the supply of social housing, offering incentives to those who renovate and rent out empty properties at affordable prices and cracking down on seasonal rentals. In Spain just 2.5% of housing is set aside for social housing, a figure that lags drastically behind countries such as France and the Netherlands, said Sánchez.
The problem is that there are EU freedom of movement rules. It would be hard to justify Spain-only in the face of those rules
Which, to be honest, is one of the many things fueling anti-EU sentiment at the moment. Immigration being the biggest one.
Yes, I think you can live and work in Spain indefinitely if you are from the EU.
So someone could be living in Spain for decades with an EU passport. It would make sense for them to be able to buy a main residence.