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The 14 provinces with the highest presence of empty homes in Spain

In Spain, the phenomenon of empty homes is a reality that cannot be ignored. According to a study carried out by the consulting company Tinsa, approximately 14.4% of the national residential park is uninhabited, which is equivalent to an alarming figure of 3.8 million homes. However, what is even more surprising is that half of these homes are concentrated in only 14 provinces, while the other half is scattered throughout the Spanish territory. 

This concentration of empty homes corresponds to demographic trends, aging of past constructions and homes in the process of foreclosures and put on the market again. 

Likewise, the largest volume of empty housing is located mainly in the coastal provinces of the Mediterranean and in depopulated areas of Galicia and Asturias. The largest number of empty housing is found in provinces of the interior and northwest of the peninsula, being Orense and Lugo with 43.7% and 37.3% of their residential park the ones that stand out the most, followed by seven interior provinces with sections between 25% and 30% in Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León and Aragon.

Half of the empty housing is located on the coast. The beach spots of Alicante, A Coruña and Santa Cruz de Tenerife have the largest number of empty homes, accounting for 25.9% of empty homes, a total of 993,000 units in 2021. The rest of the municipalities in these provinces, including tourist areas further from the coast, account for another 24.9%, reaching 953,000 units. 

On the other hand, the provinces of Vizcaya, Madrid, Álava, Guipúzcoa, Barcelona and Valladolid, between 6% and 10%, are those that occupy the other extreme, with fewer empty homes. 

Large Spanish capitals also do not suffer from the excess of unused apartments: in the last 20 years, empty housing in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza and Malaga has decreased by 32%, which contrasts with the 24% increase experienced at the national level. In these years, these cities have reduced the volume of their empty housing by 40%, with a total of 266,000. In addition, 376,000 newly built homes have been added to the residential park of these locations in the same period.

Despite the high volume of brand-new housing, there are many locations in Spain where there has been a high increase in the supply of new construction and its price. Meanwhile the homes built in the real estate boom become obsolete and have lost interest for the buyer compared to those of new construction. The use of these empty housing to alleviate the housing shortage in Spain, however, does not have a quick solution, since these homes are blocked for several reasons: uninhabitability conditions, associated legal processes or just because their owners keep them off the market.