Pyrenees tourism crisis: Workers sleep in caravans as rents hit 2,000 euros

2,000 euro rents and workers in caravans in the Pyrenees

How much must you earn to work at a ski resort? In the Aragonese Pyrenees, the answer is in the ads: an 83-square-meter flat in Sallent de Gállego is listed for 2,000 euros a month, another of 90 square meters for 2,300. With the 1,400 euro salary cited by one worker, the remainder leaves little room for interpretation. The season, which ends on April 7, repeats the scene of previous winters: a dozen caravans and vans parked in the Formigal urbanization car park, many occupied by cooks, waitresses, and instructors who cannot find — or cannot afford — conventional rental housing.

The Formigal car park, turned into a workers’ quarter

Dani Rivas works at the Formigal snowpark. In the 2022/2023 winter, he shared a two-bedroom flat with five colleagues for 1,000 euros a month, with a prior payment of 5,000 euros plus the deposit at the start of the season. Fed up with this arrangement, this Basque worker bought a caravan. “It is very difficult to find accommodation here; there is less of it and it is getting more expensive,” he summarizes. Next to him, Gabriela García and Iván Pérez, who arrived from Almería in their first season, are blunt: “We came because we have the caravan; otherwise, we could not work here.” He is a cook, she is a waitress, and in the evenings she also works at a hotel, where she is allowed to shower and do laundry.

This is not a phenomenon exclusive to seasonal workers. Mariano Izquierdo, a Madrid resident who has frequented Formigal for two decades, confirms this every winter: “It did not happen before, but now in all the Pyrenees resorts, without exception, even in Andorra, you see workers in caravans.”

How much does it cost to rent a flat in Sallent de Gállego

The real estate market in the valley explains the scene. In Sallent de Gállego, listings range from 2,300 euros for 90 square meters, 2,000 for 83, and more modest options of 1,200 and 650 euros. The average price stands at 20.65 euros per square meter, double that of Zaragoza city. The cheap alternative has a hidden cost: commuting from Sabiñánigo involves 45 minutes each way, with traffic jams and snowy roads in the middle of winter.

Advances complete the equation. For a winter season, some landlords demand 6,000 euros in advance “without blinking,” according to the owner of a restaurant in the town.

The business owner who also pays the bill

The problem hits workers, but also businesses. David Guillén, owner of the Cambium Pirineos restaurant, admits that “workers pay the price of tourism,” and so does he: he is short two staff members, the positions require a high level of training, and he cannot find candidates. He has helped one employee move from a 28-square-meter apartment in Biescas for 700 euros to another in Sallent for 100 euros more, with two bedrooms.

Ángel Fernández, who runs the Hotel Valle de Izas in Sallent, closed his restaurant and kept only the rooms. “You lose economic activity and become small because you lack labor,” he laments. Large hotels respond differently: they reserve an entire floor for staff, reducing the rooms available for sale. The filter is housing: one hotelier reports interviewing 50 people and hiring six, and only a few had accommodation.

The model that worked twenty years ago

Valvanera Salas started at the resort two decades ago and is spending this season in the Alps. Her diagnosis points to tourist apartments, which “drive prices up.” She recalls that Aramón had a huge hostel to house its employees, sold years later. The comparison with the neighboring country is uncomfortable: “Here in the Alps, 95% of jobs offer accommodation.”

Her assessment includes a warning: “You cannot pay 1,000 euros for a flat if you earn 1,400. I have friends who have stopped working the season because it is no longer profitable.”

Lack of housing, too many tourists, or low salaries?

The diagnosis opens in several directions. One part of the analysis highlights the shortage of supply: in a mountain town, available land is limited, the terrain makes any development expensive, and licenses depend on local councils, while private investment sees no profitability in cheap housing. Another focus is on salaries: no price adjustment solves a paycheck that does not cover rent. A third points to the tourism model itself, with housing converted into short-stay accommodation that tightens the residential market.

It is also argued that part of the pressure comes from workers willing to accept harsher conditions, an argument that appears in the available material as opinion without data backing. The solutions discussed are three and not mutually exclusive: increase housing supply, raise salaries, or businesses close. Some entrepreneurs have already chosen the third option unwillingly: fewer tables, fewer meals served, fewer bars open.