Access to decent housing under reasonable conditions is today one of the main concerns of citizens in the Canary Islands. A circumstance that affects, of course, the most vulnerable people in a society that continues to suffer high rates of poverty. But not only. It also affects working people with low and medium incomes, as well as our young people, who either cannot find housing or find it impossible to pay for what the market offers them due to the constant rise in prices, whether for purchase or rent. Therefore, the Canary Islands public administrations must prioritize the adoption of measures that help solve this serious social problem.
Regarding the right to housing, Article 47 of the Constitution states that "the public authorities shall promote the necessary conditions and establish the relevant regulations to make this right effective, regulating the use of land in accordance with the general interest to prevent speculation." For its part, Article 22 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands states that "the public authorities must guarantee the right of all people to decent housing, through a public promotion system under conditions of equality and in the terms established by law, paying special attention to the most vulnerable social groups. The use of land will be regulated in accordance with the general interest to avoid speculation."
Right violated
However, its practical implementation is today a real utopia for tens of thousands of Canarians. It is, therefore, a constitutional and statutory right clearly violated. Most people cannot access home ownership at a reasonable price; and it is also unacceptable that, if rented, the fee represents half or more of the salary of the already low wages of the Islands.
The high cost of housing is today in the Canary Islands one of the most serious factors of risk of social exclusion. Worsening in our big cities and in tourist municipalities, where the housing market is very tense and it is practically impossible to access a rental or purchase of decent housing.
In addition, the most negative economic circumstances mean that in our land the number of evictions and foreclosures is higher than the state average. Regarding evictions for non-payment of mortgage, despite decreasing from 2015, in 2019 they are clearly higher than the Spanish average: 3.91 per 10,000 inhabitants compared to 3.02. As for evictions for non-payment of the rent, they have not fallen since 2016, reaching 10.88 people per 10,000 inhabitants in 2019 compared to 7.75 in the whole of the State.
In our Community, the number of homes exceeds one million. The main residence accounts for 77.16% (844,404), compared to 22.84% of the non-main residence (249,926). Having just over 22,000 public homes, just under 3% of the total number of main homes in the Canary Islands.
Numerous factors contribute to the fact that in the Archipelago it is increasingly difficult to access housing. On the one hand, the significant population growth experienced influences, more than 540,000 people so far this century XXI, a percentage higher than 32%. In the same period, Euskadi barely increased its population by 6.7% and the whole of the Spanish State by 18.7%.
However, the same line is persisted in, which will only make things worse. With occurrences such as the Government of the Canary Islands to facilitate the construction of housing on rustic land. Or with macro-projects such as the urban planning agreement that unblocks the partial plan of El Mojón, in Arona; and that involves building a new city with 9,000 beds, seven thousand of them will be fundamentally chalets located on plots of 300 meters, which will be prey to speculation.
Responding to this requires many actions. The Canary Islands must speed up the fulfillment of the current Housing Plan 2000-2025, which we launched last legislature after a decade without any action. A Plan that has a financial sheet, more than 600 million euros, defining almost 6,000 new homes on land that is already owned by the Canary Islands community or ceded by the town councils. It must be intensified, to try to double the number of homes in the Plan, updating the construction modules and getting more public land.
220,000 empty homes
Another significant condition is the enormous amount of empty homes: more than 220,000 in the Archipelago, one in five. In Lanzarote, for example, there are about 20,000 uninhabited houses registered. According to recent data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), among the cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, Santa Cruz de Tenerife appears at the head of empty homes in the whole State, with 17.3%, and in fourth place is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (14.3%), behind Vigo (15.1%) and A Coruña (14.7%). In the case of municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, the list of uninhabited houses is headed by Tías (48%) and among the top twenty are Antigua (37.2%), Mogán (33.7%), Santiago del Teide (35.7%) and San Miguel de Abona (33.1%).
We must analyze in depth the reasons (problem of inheritances, deterioration, insecurity...) why these houses are not in the rental market and look for alternatives (fiscal, aid for rehabilitation, insurance...) that stimulate a profound change, helping to significantly expand the current offer, especially in the two most populated cities of the Archipelago, but not only.
Another distorting factor in the islands is the exponential growth of vacation rentals in recent years. Especially when it occurs in neighborhoods that are gentrified, making it impossible for residents to access housing; and with extremes such as the proliferation of buildings dedicated entirely to vacation rentals, facilities that, as I have pointed out on other occasions, do not distribute income among the local population, barely generate employment and compete with hotels.
Speculation
Also, from Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-bc) we believe that we must put a stop to the acquisition of homes by foreigners without roots in the Islands, and that become pure and hard speculation. The Canary Islands is the second community most affected by this phenomenon. Canada decided to ban, from 2023 to 2025, the purchase of housing to non-resident foreigners in the country, a measure that has just been extended until 2027. With this, the government of the liberal Trudeau aims to combat real estate speculation and the rise in prices in the sector. New Zealand has also begun to take restrictive measures to avoid speculation and protect its local population. We must look for mechanisms that make it possible here too.
The housing situation in the Canary Islands is serious. This forces public institutions to commit firmly to implement solutions that transform this negative reality. In no case from improvisation and occurrences -which began with the rustic land and may end up authorizing to build homes in the commercial premises of the buildings-, but from planning, the vision of the future and sustainability. Tempering demographic growth. Offering public protection housing for the most vulnerable sectors, as well as private promotion housing at competitive prices, through public-private cooperation, both for sale and for rent. Adequately regulating vacation rentals, especially in the most tense areas, and limiting sales to non-resident foreigners. Favoring the incorporation into the market of a relevant percentage of the houses that are empty today... Actions as multiple as urgent to comply with this constitutional and statutory right.
