Finding a rental apartment in some of Spain's larger cities such as Barcelona and Madrid has become extremely difficult.

Along with soaring prices, there's a dwindling supply and dozens if not hundreds of candidates are often fighting to get the same property.

According to Llàtzer Puigpelat from rental app Vivara, the stock of available housing in Spain fell by 56 percent between 2020 and 2024.

"In Barcelona, the drop has been 84 percent, with some 40,800 fewer homes; in Madrid, it has been 71 percent, with a loss of 58,000. Part of that supply has shifted to short-term and tourist rentals, while many owners have decided to withdraw their properties from the market," she told Spanish newspaper El Periódico.

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While this is common knowledge among local Spaniards and those who live in those cities, it's not so apparent to those trying to move here for the first time from countries abroad.

To make matters worse, it's often a lot more difficult for foreigners to rent, particularly those on Spain's digital nomad the non-lucrative visas. This is because they don't have Spanish job contracts and lots of landlords or estate agencies won't consider someone who is not locally employed.

They fear that they can't ensure ongoing rental payments if they don't have a proper job contract in place. They're also wary of those who are self-employed and those who don't work.

As a result, many foreigners in Spain have found themselves having to offer to pay up to six months or more for rent in advance, while others have been forced to rent short term apartments, thus paying a premium and having to find new rentals every few months.

Furthermore, there's the fact that landlords are increasingly renting out their properties for 11 months so the leases remain under the temporary rental classification. The trick means they don't have to guarantee the more bolstered tenancy rights long-term rental contracts offer, from protection against price hikes to evictions.

While the government has been trying to rectify the problems and bring in many measures over the last few years to help solve the situation, many of these have so far not solved the issues.

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