The debate over the causes of Spain’s housing shortage has gained fresh momentum: economist Santiago Niño Becerra named 2 May 1956 as the point when the problem began on a podcast. But a review of contemporary documents paints a different picture. The oft-quoted slogan “We want a country of homeowners, not proletarians” is attributed to the then Housing Minister José Luis de Arrese and appeared in the newspaper ABC on 2 May 1959. This date is supported by archival copies and academic research.
The political-economic foundations of the later market structure were also shaped by legislative reforms. A key measure was the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos of 1964. It kept rents tightly controlled for a long time and strengthened tenant protection, making investment in rental housing less attractive than building homes for sale. Historical analyses identify this as a key mechanism that oriented the housing market towards homeownership and permanently weakened the rental sector.
At the same time, from the post-war period until the 1980s, the state relied heavily on subsidised construction. Under the banner of Viviendas de Protección Oficial large numbers of homes were built over several decades, often with a focus on sale rather than long-term rental. The combination of regulation and subsidy structures encouraged a two-tier market: a large homeownership sector and a relatively small, sometimes rigidly regulated rental market.
Niño Becerra, Professor of Economic Structure at the Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona, sees today’s shortage as a structural outcome of these decisions that is difficult to reverse. Some of these views are shared in academic literature, but attributing the problem to a single year is too narrow. What can be precisely substantiated is the public slogan of 1959 and the far-reaching legislative effects of 1964.
For today’s policy debate, the main lesson is that a clear-eyed assessment of historical incentives is a prerequisite for effective remedies. These include a stable, predictable framework for investment in new rental housing, the strength of municipal land policy, the balance of subsidies between homeownership and renting, and the treatment of existing rents. Broad claims about dates without supporting sources do little to solve the problem. The key is to analyse the established milestones — the 1959 ABC interview and the 1964 Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos — together and use them to develop concrete steps with credible timelines and funding.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).