What do you think?
Rate this book
El problema de la vivienda: Cómo desactivar la bomba de relojería que amenaza con colapsar España
336 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2025
7 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 22, 2025
If, in 2025, a new book is published on the topic of the housing crisis in Spain, one might expect a touch of ideology, some data, clear graphics, and perhaps new interpretations or proposals. We've been reading about this issue in various newspapers for years! However, this book, while certainly of some interest, is an overly long endeavour that adds very little to the discussion.
The author has been employed by various left-wing governments over the past two decades, and one can easily detect a left-leaning approach throughout. Perhaps it’s not my own, but that isn’t the source of my disappointment. On the one hand, the book takes far too long to say very little: it presents a convoluted structure in which the same layers of opinion are repeated again and again, without any real development. Only two chapters break away from that repetition: the historical overview of housing in Spain, and the section on successive generations and their views on housing — by far the most tedious and least relevant part of the book.
On the other hand, there is a striking absence of data. While it might be acceptable to avoid statistics in a political text — more a manifesto than a proper analysis — 300 pages of "I think that..." is far too much for me. The tone remains civil — there are no insults, which is welcome — and the author avoids reducing everything to “evil neoliberal capitalism”. Still, the constant stream of wisecracks and mildly humorous asides becomes exhausting.
I respect the decision to focus solely on what governments can and cannot do. However, the author's understandable preference for public intervention overlooks the interests of developers, landlords, owners of vacant properties, investors, tenants, and so on. There is barely any reference to the future of housing: how many people will move to cities; what should be done with housing in rural or depopulated areas; how the labour market will evolve; or what impact migration — both high- and low-income — is likely to have, and where. As the author himself concedes, we should, as a society, pursue multiple solutions to address this crisis. As a society — not merely as a government. Even his repeated criticism of Madrid’s housing policies fails to prompt a reflection on the territorial distribution of the population, or on how governments are reinforcing the power of cities (as if that were needed), thereby exacerbating the housing crisis.
The book's main focus is on rented housing, which makes sense. But there is little critique of partially successful models such as Vienna’s — for instance, the lack of turnover, which leads to the exclusion of low-income individuals and newcomers (especially migrants). Is it really fair that someone who happened to be lucky 35 years ago still occupies a subsidised flat, while poorer people are forced into far more expensive housing, effectively paying for the prejudices of the landlord class? I don't think so.
The book is ideologically very middle class — largely because the current housing crisis is hitting middle-class individuals, while truly marginalised groups — from rough sleepers to migrant communities living in substandard housing — are barely mentioned. The son of a secondary school teacher struggles to live alone (no partner in sight) in a desirable urban area: I recognise this as a legitimate concern, but to me, a genuinely left-wing perspective would look quite different.
Not to mention the faint whiff of xenophobia directed at tourism and the tourism industry — something that has become a familiar trope among left-leaning writers in Spain generally, and in Catalonia in particular.
The author has been employed by various left-wing governments over the past two decades, and one can easily detect a left-leaning approach throughout. Perhaps it’s not my own, but that isn’t the source of my disappointment. On the one hand, the book takes far too long to say very little: it presents a convoluted structure in which the same layers of opinion are repeated again and again, without any real development. Only two chapters break away from that repetition: the historical overview of housing in Spain, and the section on successive generations and their views on housing — by far the most tedious and least relevant part of the book.
On the other hand, there is a striking absence of data. While it might be acceptable to avoid statistics in a political text — more a manifesto than a proper analysis — 300 pages of "I think that..." is far too much for me. The tone remains civil — there are no insults, which is welcome — and the author avoids reducing everything to “evil neoliberal capitalism”. Still, the constant stream of wisecracks and mildly humorous asides becomes exhausting.
I respect the decision to focus solely on what governments can and cannot do. However, the author's understandable preference for public intervention overlooks the interests of developers, landlords, owners of vacant properties, investors, tenants, and so on. There is barely any reference to the future of housing: how many people will move to cities; what should be done with housing in rural or depopulated areas; how the labour market will evolve; or what impact migration — both high- and low-income — is likely to have, and where. As the author himself concedes, we should, as a society, pursue multiple solutions to address this crisis. As a society — not merely as a government. Even his repeated criticism of Madrid’s housing policies fails to prompt a reflection on the territorial distribution of the population, or on how governments are reinforcing the power of cities (as if that were needed), thereby exacerbating the housing crisis.
The book's main focus is on rented housing, which makes sense. But there is little critique of partially successful models such as Vienna’s — for instance, the lack of turnover, which leads to the exclusion of low-income individuals and newcomers (especially migrants). Is it really fair that someone who happened to be lucky 35 years ago still occupies a subsidised flat, while poorer people are forced into far more expensive housing, effectively paying for the prejudices of the landlord class? I don't think so.
The book is ideologically very middle class — largely because the current housing crisis is hitting middle-class individuals, while truly marginalised groups — from rough sleepers to migrant communities living in substandard housing — are barely mentioned. The son of a secondary school teacher struggles to live alone (no partner in sight) in a desirable urban area: I recognise this as a legitimate concern, but to me, a genuinely left-wing perspective would look quite different.
Not to mention the faint whiff of xenophobia directed at tourism and the tourism industry — something that has become a familiar trope among left-leaning writers in Spain generally, and in Catalonia in particular.
December 29, 2025
Burón esboza en este ensayo un acertadísimo diagnóstico de la problemática más acuciante de nuestros días. Una obra realista, por ende, nada esperanzadora sobre un problema (o más bien, "El problema") ...que adquiere ya una naturaleza innegablemente estructural y constituye la principal preocupación de todo ciudadano residente, a duras penas, de este país. Un baño de realidad sin tibiezas que invita a la reflexión de nuestros dirigentes hacia su inacción y pasividad ante el asunto.
Un merecido cate a los "boomers" y otros colectivos generacionales que claman, con absoluta convicción, que si los jóvenes no podemos acceder a una vivienda es porque no doblamos más el lomo. Lectura sencilla y lenguaje claro que sintetiza con gran maestría qué nos ha llevado hasta este punto de no retorno.
María Carballo.
Un merecido cate a los "boomers" y otros colectivos generacionales que claman, con absoluta convicción, que si los jóvenes no podemos acceder a una vivienda es porque no doblamos más el lomo. Lectura sencilla y lenguaje claro que sintetiza con gran maestría qué nos ha llevado hasta este punto de no retorno.
María Carballo.
October 5, 2025
Un buen diagnóstico de la situación y compendio de soluciones con referencias sobre lo que ha funcionado en los países y ciudades pioneros en Europa para abordar el problema de carestía de la vivienda y todas sus derivadas y consecuencias.
Como posible mejora de la edición: es difícil navegar las referencias si el capítulo al que se refieren solo se indica al principio de cada bloque. O se usa una numeración correlativa para todo el libro (no reiniciando en 1 en cada capítulo), o (mejor) se ponen como notas al pie en la página de lectura.
Como posible mejora de la edición: es difícil navegar las referencias si el capítulo al que se refieren solo se indica al principio de cada bloque. O se usa una numeración correlativa para todo el libro (no reiniciando en 1 en cada capítulo), o (mejor) se ponen como notas al pie en la página de lectura.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews