Spain's housing ministry adviser blames uncontrolled immigration for soaring house prices

Carme Trilla, adviser to Spain's Ministry of Housing, argues that immigration is the main cause of the housing shortage and that the real decree's explanatory statement omits it. That it is the leading cause is her claim, not an official figure.

## Who is making this claim

Carme Trilla is an economist and chairs the Fundació **Hàbitat3**, which focuses on social housing in Catalonia. She also advises the **Ministry of Housing**.

In remarks circulated on social media, she places immigration as the leading cause of the housing shortage. She is no anonymous voice: she works with the very department behind the new rule.

## The decree and its explanatory statement

Every real decree includes an explanatory statement: the text that justifies why it is being approved. According to Trilla, the housing decree's statement does not mention immigration as a cause of the problem, and that omission would be deliberate.

Two things should be kept apart. Whether a legal text mentions a factor can be checked by reading the **BOE** (Spain's official state gazette). Whether it hides it on purpose is an interpretation, one that must be supported or refuted as such.

## Why a single cause cannot explain prices

Housing prices move with interest rates, available land, new construction and wages. Even so, the claim has some substance: if the problem is the housing shortage, the useful question is how many homes are completed each year compared with how many new households are formed.

Without those two figures, it all stays at headline level. For a decision to buy or rent, official data are a better guide.