TENS of thousands of Spaniards joined nationwide protests over high housing costs at the weekend.

Organisers said that 150,000 people had marched in the capital Madrid, though government authorities put the number of participants at just 10 per cent of the organisers’ figure.

In Barcelona, more than 100,000 joined the demonstration, but the city hall said that only 12,000 people had taken part.

These massive demonstrations were organised by housing activists and backed by Spain’s main trade unions.

The housing crisis has hit particularly hard in Spain, where there is a strong tradition of home ownership and little public housing for rent.

Rents have risen in response to increased demand, while buying a home has become unaffordable to many people, with market pressures and speculation driving up prices, especially in the big cities and coastal areas.

On Saturday, marchers in Madrid chanted: “Get Airbnb out of our neighbourhoods” and held up signs opposing short-term rentals.

In Barcelona, a demonstrator carried a sign reading: “I am not leaving, vampire,” apparently in a message to would-be property speculators seeking to drive him out of his home.

Madrid lawyer Mari Sanchez said: “I’m living with four people and still I allocate 30 or 40 per cent of my salary to rent.

“That doesn’t allow me to save. That doesn’t allow me to do anything. It doesn’t even allow me to buy a car. That’s my current situation and the one many young people are living through.”

Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez wrote on X that she shared “the demand of the numerous people who have marched today: that homes are for living in and not for speculating.”

Incomes in Spain have failed to keep up with the soaring cost of living, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment.