At a time when foreigners are blamed by many for property market pressures in Spain, new data reveals that around one in three Spaniards own a second home.
At a time when property market pressures have sent prices soaring and housing has become a problem for many in Spain, property data reveals that a third of Spanish households own a second home.
This comes as foreigners in Spain have in recent years increasingly been blamed or perceived (by locals, by politicians, by each other) for the high-demand, low-supply property market in the country.
The government has tried to intervene, even targeting foreign buyers with measures such as the proposed 100 percent property tax and regional governments exploring ways to limit or ban non-EU nationals from purchasing property in Spain. One far-left party has even called for a total property sale ban for all non-resident foreigners in Spain.
According to the latest data published by Eurostat, the year-on-year increase in house prices across EU countries stood at 5.5 percent in the final quarter of 2025, while in Spain it was 12.9 percent — the fourth highest in the EU.
Many Spanish cities have also seen eye-watering rental price rises.
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But the data shows that more Spaniards own second homes than the mainstream debate reflects. According to figures from the Bank of Spain, some 33.7 percent of households in Spain own a second property.
The figures come from the bank’s recent Household Financial Survey (EEF), which found that “33.7 percent [of households in Spain] owned a property that was not their main residence”.
If we broaden the scope to include properties of any kind, other than the main residence, such as a garage, commercial premises, farm or office space, the percentage rises to almost half: “45.3 percent of households owned property assets other than their main residence. More specifically, 33.7 percent owned a property that was not their main residence, followed, in order of importance, by 13.6 percent who owned building plots and land.”
However, the figures also reveal that the significant proportion of Spanish households that own their property: seven out of ten own their main home, with a median value of around €170,000.
In other words, in Spain there seems to be a trend of fewer homeowners, but the properties are worth more.
In 2011, almost 90 percent of households in Spain owned some form of property. By 2024, that figure had fallen to 82.6 percent, with those under 35 the worst off, as only 36.7 percent own their own home.
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Nonetheless, access to a second home is not evenly distributed. As income, age or job stability increase, so does the likelihood of owning more than one property.
Households where the main bread winner is aged between 65 and 74 account for some of the highest levels of home ownership in Spain, as do retirees and the self-employed. The latter group stands out in particular, both for the frequency with which they own additional properties and for the value of those properties.
Even so, owning a second home is not entirely exclusive to the wealthiest in Spain.
Even among lower-income households, bank figures show that almost one in four owns an additional property. According to the survey, in the lowest income quintile, 24.7 percent of households own property assets other than their main home.
READ ALSO: The overlooked factors causing Spain’s housing crisis
