Finding a rental apartment in Barcelona for 600 euros or less has become almost a utopia since less than 0.1% are rented for this price, according to a review of the Idealista portal. In the Catalan capital, there are very few neighborhoods where this amount can be found. Most of them also do not stand out for their spaciousness or comfort: studios without rooms and of very small dimensions, dark basements, without ventilation...
To avoid the risk of poverty, it is recommended not to allocate more than 30% of the salary to the payment of the house, be it a mortgage or rent. In accordance with this rule, an average salary - of 27,000 euros gross - should not allocate more than 600 euros to this end. However, in large capitals such as Barcelona, meeting this percentage is equivalent to living in substandard housing.
The neighborhoods that come closest to this price level are La Font d’En Fargues (690 euros on average), in the Horta-Guinardó district; la Verneda and la Pau (722.8), in Sant Martí; Horta (821 euros), in Horta-Guinardó and the neighborhood of Porta (821 euros), in the district of Nou Barris, always according to the real estate portal. Except for the first one, they all stay away.
In fact, the Catalan capital is the place in Spain where it is more expensive to rent. After an incessant rise in prices in recent years, the rented square meter reaches 19.8 euros, two euros above the city of Madrid, where it costs 16.5 euros.
All the districts of the Catalan capital have increased their prices in the last year, ranking first in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, with a 29% increase, l'Eixample, with 26%, or Sant Martí with 28%.
Taking a look at the current market, at the beginning of this week you could find just four flats in Barcelona for less than 600 euros, according to Idealista. All with a single room, some two when adding the living room.
The first option would be a 25 m² apartment in El Raval that looks like a dilapidated warehouse, made up of a single room, a small bathroom and a tiny balcony. A favorite pastime may be to find a line of bricks that is straight.
Despite the few square meters of this "loft" you have to pay 550 euros per month (plus 80 euros for water and electricity). The farm does not even have an elevator. The great privilege is being one step away from the Liceu.
Another option is found in the El Carmel neighborhood: a 40 m² ground floor consisting of a dining room -with built-in kitchen-, a bedroom and a bathroom. The price of the property, which has heating, amounts to 600 euros per month. It will also be time to put all the furniture and appliances.
Third stop, this time in the Sant Andreu neighborhood. We lose space again in a 25 m² apartment without rooms for 525 euros per month. The great advantage is that at the end of the day we will not have our legs loaded from going from one side of the apartment to the other: it only has a living room with a sofa bed, from which you have magnificent views of a beautiful black cable that crosses the room . It is on the fifth floor and has an elevator.
Finally, we find the rental of a studio for 590 euros per month in the neighborhood of La Prosperitat, in Barcelona. It has 30 m², American style kitchen and bathroom. A second floor suitable for a single person "seeking independence". It will be necessary to trust: they have not bothered to put photographs.
The concern of many owners regarding potential defaults and occupations, the extremely high demand for housing and the limited supply, partly due to the growth in vacation rentals, are some of the reasons why this price increase has occurred. of young people is aggravated by the precariousness of the jobs of many of them, without fixed or permanent contracts, an almost essential condition to access housing.
All this leaves a discouraging picture for families who find it impossible to acquire their own home and that paying rent may put them at risk of poverty. Also for young people who increasingly delay their emancipation or are forced to share a flat.
