The economy has improved significantly. This is what all public and private institutions, both national and international, are saying, and the data support these claims. But does this improvement reach all citizens? The answer is clear: no, because despite all the progress, Spain has structural poverty, which increases in financial crises and persists during times of prosperity.
At this moment, there are 9.4 million people who are on the brink of poverty or already in it (4.3 million). Full integration situations, experienced by 22 million people, have decreased by 8% (4 percentage points) and are further away from reaching half of the Spanish population (45%). Social inequality is deepening.
“Fortunately, in this housing crisis we have not returned to the shantytowns of the last century”
This is reflected in the progress of the results of the sixth Survey on Integration and Social Needs by the Foessa Foundation, from Cáritas, which was carried out last semester with 12,500 households. “It is necessary to look back to the situation before the great recession of 2007, as the effects of the Covid crisis and its recovery should not mask the fact that, as a society, we have been unable to overcome the consequences of the financial crisis that took place more than a decade ago, and even then, there were families and individuals whose living conditions were not adequate,” said Natalia Peiro, Secretary General of Cáritas Española, who emphasizes the “inability of the economy and policies to break the cycles of poverty and social exclusion.”
Housing is one of the dimensions of social exclusion that has worsened in the last six years. The incidence of various housing issues has increased by four percentage points since 2018, affecting one in four households in 2024 in one way or another. Almost all the indicators analyzed in this dimension have significantly deteriorated.
Only substandard housing conditions and poorly maintained housing present a situation quite similar to that of 2018. “Fortunately, in this housing crisis, a return to widespread slum living like in the mid-20th century does not seem to be an alternative in Spain,” the Foessa report states.
The housing market presents a pricing problem that causes many households to be forced to make an extra effort, seriously compromising the coverage of other basic needs. 14% of the population is below the severe poverty threshold when we deduct housing expenses from their incomes. This amounts to 6.8 million people in Spain.
The report from Caritas reveals changes in the profile of exclusion in Spanish society. For the time being, and beyond cyclical fluctuations, the differences in the incidence of severe social exclusion according to age have been significantly increasing, multiplying by six between the extremes: while older age groups show a clear tendency towards gradual improvement, younger age groups are the ones that have worsened the most. Specifically, children have seen how severe social exclusion now affects them more than twice as much as in 2007.
Where is social exclusion found? In all regions and in all environments. But while this is true, social exclusion is predominantly an urban phenomenon: 54.6% of households in situations of exclusion are located in urban areas. However, the most recent evolution shows a worsening situation in rural areas, which has seen a particularly significant increase in severe exclusion, with its weight growing from 8.7% in 2018 to 11% in 2024.
