Young and renting alone in Spain
31 Oct
Renting a flat alone takes 98.7% of a young worker's average take-home pay. Only 14.5% of 16- to 29-year-olds live away from their parents.
Spanish Youth Council, Emancipation Observatory (2025 data)October 2026 · Europe's housing protests
Rent
Freedom
Day
Like Tax Freedom Day, but every month: the day you've earned enough to pay your rent. Every day after it is yours.
Today is 20 October. 4 more days working for rent.
- 30% rule: 10 Oct
- Geneva: 9 Oct
- Lisbon: Never
Rent Freedom Day in London
October 2026
24 Oct
23.3 of October's 31 days go to rent.
Working for rentWorking for yourselfCircled: rent paid off
An average workday in London
Working for the landlord until 3:00 pm
RentYours
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Live · 20 Oct
Who's free today?
Each bar is one month of work. Red is the part that pays the rent. Cities whose red ends left of the line have already paid this month.
17 of 25 cities have paid this month's rent.
Month ends
25 European cities
When rent gets paid off across Europe
Average rent for a one-bedroom flat in the city centre against the average take-home salary. Tap a city to load it.
By the 10th11th–15th16th–20th21st–25thAfter the 25thNeverProtests this month
Who never gets there
The averages hide the worst cases
Minimum wage in Lisbon
Never
An average two-bedroom costs 168% of the gross minimum wage. A month's rent takes 52 days of work.
ETUC analysis of Eurostat data (May 2026)The average salary in Spain
12 Oct → 16 Oct
2019
2025
An 80 m² flat took 38% of the average gross salary in 2019 and 50% in 2025. Rent Freedom Day moved 4 days later in six years.
Fotocasa and InfoJobs (2026), gross salaryWhy now
From one eviction to a continent of tents
- 23 Sep
Maricarmen Abascal, 87, is carried out of the Madrid flat she had lived in for about 70 years. The investment company that bought it reportedly wanted a 275% rent rise. She died on 7 October.
- 26 Sep
Tenants set up camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol. Camps follow in Barcelona, Málaga and Valencia.
- 2 Oct
Spain's Congress rejects the emergency housing decrees, 172 to 178 and 166 to 184.
- 3 Oct
Marches in more than 50 Spanish cities. Madrid's crowd: 70,000 by police count, 500,000 by organisers.
- 10–17 Oct
Housing marches and tent camps spread to Lisbon and Porto.
- 17 Oct
Cost-of-living protests in France, Italy, Belgium and Portugal. More than 550,000 march in France.
- 11 NovUpcoming
General strike called in Spain.
- 29 NovUpcoming
Spain votes in a snap general election.