Housing has become one of the few issues capable of transcending much of Spain’s political divisions. The 88.7% believe that access to housing has worsened since the start of the current legislature, according to the latest Cluster17 survey for Agenda Pública. Against that broad majority, only 1.3% perceives any improvement.
73.9% of citizens state that access to housing has worsened “significantly” and another 14.8% that it has worsened “somewhat”. A 9.4% consider the situation roughly unchanged. The poll, conducted between August 22 and 25 on a sample of 1,637 people, also asks about the evolution of the economy, employment, purchasing power, public services, or institutional quality. None of these areas receives a diagnosis as negative as housing. Purchasing power and the cost of living come in second place, with 77.2% believing they have worsened.
The discontent also reaches socialist voters
In this case, the voting memory does not show a split scenario, but only nuances the intensity of the assessment. Among those who voted for the PP in the 2023 general elections, 99% believe that access to housing has worsened. Among Vox voters, the percentage is virtually identical, at 98.8%.
“81.9% of those who voted for the PSOE consider that access to housing has worsened, compared to only 0.9% who see an improvement”
On the left, 81.9% of PSOE voters believe that access to housing has worsened, versus only 0.9% who see an improvement. Among Sumar voters, the balance is similar: 80.4% see deterioration and barely 1.4% a favorable evolution. Meanwhile, 91.2% of Junts voters consider that access to housing has worsened.
The citizen agreement ends when asked about the economy. Among socialist voters, 89% believe that the Spanish economy has improved, though eight out of ten also think that access to housing has worsened. Among Sumar’s electors the gap is similar, while 93.6% perceive an economic improvement.
The assessment of housing thus escapes, to a greater extent than other issues, the government-opposition logic. Voters of the parties that supported the investiture can hold a favorable view of the economy’s course and, at the same time, share a very negative diagnosis of the housing market.
Almost eight out of ten Spaniards believe their purchasing power has worsened
Housing represents the extreme of a diagnosis that extends to many of the areas included in the survey. In addition to access to housing, Cluster17 asks about the evolution since the PSOE has governed the economy, employment and wages, purchasing power, public services, institutional quality, territorial cohesion, equality of opportunity, and Spain’s international influence. The results show important differences between some issues and others.
“The valuation of housing escapes, to a greater extent than other issues, the government-opposition logic”
The Spanish economy is the clearest exception: 50% believe it has improved since the PSOE took office, compared with 40% who think it has worsened. In employment, wages, and working conditions, the positions are almost evenly split, with 43.5% who see an improvement and 43.3% who note a deterioration.
The perception changes considerably when the questions move toward material conditions. 77.2% believe that purchasing power and the cost of living have worsened, while only 10.7% see an improvement. The balance is also negative for the quality of public services, which has deteriorated for 66.8%, and for institutional quality and the fight against corruption, at 62.9%.
The rest of the indicators likewise do not yield a favorable result. 51.3% believe that equality of opportunity and social cohesion have worsened; 49.5%, territorial cohesion, and 49% Spain’s international influence. Only the economy shows a clearly positive balance across the whole set.
The difference between some indicators and others helps to better understand housing’s outcome. There is not a uniform pessimism toward everything that has happened during these years: half of Spaniards acknowledge an improvement in the economy, even though employment splits optimists and pessimists almost evenly. That negative consensus appears, above all, when asked about the cost of living, public services, and, especially, housing.
Young people concentrate the greatest discontent
When talking about expectations and the economy, generational perception is very different. Spaniards aged 25 to 34 are the group that offers the most negative balance in seven of the nine areas analyzed. Housing tops the list: 96.1% believe access has worsened and none of the respondents in this bracket sees an improvement.
But the discontent does not end there. 87.1% believe their purchasing power and the cost of living have worsened; 76.7%, the quality of public services, and 70.1%, the quality of institutions and the fight against corruption. They are also the most critical about equality of opportunity and social cohesion (59.6%).
“That negative consensus appears, above all, when asked about the cost of living, public services and, especially, housing”
The difference even extends to the economy, where the overall result had been favorable. Among those aged 25 to 34, 52.4% believe the Spanish economy has worsened and only 36.5% see an improvement. In employment, wages, and working conditions, something similar occurs: 53.5% report deterioration versus 32.7% noting advances.
The result lays out a fairly clear separation between economic readings and everyday experience. A significant portion of Spaniards — including many PSOE and Sumar voters — may deem that the economy has improved and, at the same time, state that they are living worse in terms of housing access, the cost of living, or public services.
This dynamic is likely to be one of the Government’s most important challenges at the start of this political and electoral season. On issues like immigration, the Government enjoys backing from its voters and faces opposition from the rest of the parties, but the scenario painted by these data is different. The negative judgment does not come solely from opposition voters, as it is also found among party supporters, and it is not part of a broader rejection of all indicators of its governance. They are citizens who can recognize an economic improvement and, nevertheless, fail to see it in some of the conditions that most directly affect their standard of living.
