canary islands housing crisis young people constant moves

Housing Crisis Forces Young Canarians into Constant Moves

A Generation on the Move

A constant back-and-forth, with belongings in tow and in search of a stable home. This is the situation many young people in the Canary Islands have faced for years. The difficulties in accessing housing, stemming from a shortage of supply and high prices, have worsened this scenario and are pushing more and more people to change homes, even within the same town. The data confirms it. According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), residential mobility remains at very high levels: nearly 88,000 moves between municipalities are recorded in the Canaries per year. This translates to more than 7,300 moves a month and around 240 every day. The reading is, in this sense, clear: the housing crisis gripping the country is forcing young people to move more than their parents ever did.

The Personal Cost of Instability

Proof of this is the situation faced by Marta Herrera (a pseudonym) in her search for a home. She is 24 years old and, in just three months, has moved twice. The reason? The difficulty in finding housing that fits both her financial and personal needs. It is precisely the prices and conditions of the property market that have pushed her to change houses: “We needed something spacious, but at the same time reasonably priced.” Her moves have occurred within the same municipality, an evident paradox: who moves to a home located so close to the previous one? “We hope we don’t have to move again,” Herrera admits. But the difficulties remain.

Beyond rental prices, landlords “ask for up to two months’ deposit plus the current month’s rent. Prices have gone through the roof.” Renting also means tightening the budget and giving up “some little luxuries.” And moving so many times and confronting the property market becomes an experience that is “tiring, stressful, and overwhelming: always rushing to be able to move in as soon as possible.”

Sustained High Mobility Across the Archipelago

The trend is worsening, and increasingly more people are finding themselves trapped in it. INE data shows that residential mobility in the Canary Islands has remained high over the last decade, affecting tens of thousands of people. Inter-municipal migrations—that is, movements of people changing municipalities within the country—reached 87,994 in 2024, compared to 86,844 recorded in 2021, an increase of 1.3%. Although the growth is moderate, the figures reflect sustained and particularly high mobility for over ten years, with recent peaks in 2022 and 2023. In contrast, there was a one-off decline in 2020, coinciding with pandemic restrictions.

Landlords Selling Up and Prohibitive Costs

Iriome Santana has moved three times in the last two years. He has not stayed in any of the homes for more than a year. “I’ve often had to change houses because the owners decided to sell,” he explains. The obstacles he has faced during his housing search have been numerous: from meeting multiple requirements to paying out a sum of money that is sometimes difficult to manage. “They ask for guarantees, deposits, the current month’s rent… Between one thing and another, you have to pay nearly €2,000. It’s complicated,” he states.

Far from being isolated situations, the rental market forces Canarians to live with a packed suitcase and all that entails: “I live in a town I don’t like at all, I’m here because I have no other choice and it’s very difficult financially.” To this is added the “overwhelming” process of searching for rentals, which he faces repeatedly: “I’ve visited more than ten property websites and the cheapest I’ve seen is €700.” This experience also includes bad encounters. “I’ve even started taking furniture to a house and then been told they couldn’t rent it to me.”

Provincial Differences and Fierce Competition

By province, the data shows different behaviours. In Las Palmas—the case for María and Iriome—moves increased by 4.6% between 2021 and 2024, rising from 40,921 to 42,816 changes of municipality. In contrast, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, mobility remains very high, though with a slight decrease of 1.6%, falling from 45,923 moves in 2021 to 45,178 in 2024.

Néstor Mederos finds himself within this reality. He has been living independently for three years in the municipality of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, where he moved to study. In this time, he has lived in a different home each year. “I moved from the first one because the flat wasn’t in very good condition; from the second, because they didn’t let me renew the contract, although I probably would have left anyway,” he admits. In his case, prices also remain the main obstacle: “They have been increasing year after year.” A scenario worsened by fierce competition. “When a good offer appears, it can disappear in less than a day, and the contract conditions are also a problem: some demand excessively high deposits,” Mederos denounces.

Low Expectations for the Future

In this context, the expectations of young Canarians remain low. All three agree that if the property market continues its current trend, access to housing will remain complicated and could even worsen. The possibility of having to move again remains on the table and, for now, they rule out buying a home in the medium term.

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