Spain's lower class is getting poorer: even the top percentile falls short
The highest salary percentile in Spain can no longer afford a mortgage. With wages of €1,500 and flats in Olhão at 700,000, real impoverishment looms.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The lower class hits rock bottom: even the top percentile can't make ends meet
Being in the highest percentile of gross salaries in Spain no longer guarantees buying a home. Those earning above the average say they live in rented housing, save just barely, and would need an absurd loan to qualify for a mortgage. In this landscape, the most common salary, the one most people earn, doesn't even reach €1,500 a month.
Portugal, the mirror nobody wants to look at
Some argue that 90% of the population is already lower class. Others believe there is still a long way to fall and point to Portugal as a mirror: lower wages than in Spain, almost identical prices, and flats in areas like Olhão exceeding €700,000. Productivity has become the go-to excuse for cutting holidays and demanding longer hours, on the grounds that fifteen days are enough.
The diagnosis that is spreading is harsh: Spain is heading towards genuine poverty, not as a temporary setback but as a structural one. If the top percentile can't make the numbers work, what is left for everyone else? The question remains open, and the answer doesn't appear in any official statistic.
Being in the highest percentile of gross salaries in Spain no longer guarantees buying a home. Those earning above the average say they live in rented housing, save just barely, and would need an absurd loan to qualify for a mortgage. In this landscape, the most common salary, the one most people earn, doesn't even reach €1,500 a month.
Portugal, the mirror nobody wants to look at
Some argue that 90% of the population is already lower class. Others believe there is still a long way to fall and point to Portugal as a mirror: lower wages than in Spain, almost identical prices, and flats in areas like Olhão exceeding €700,000. Productivity has become the go-to excuse for cutting holidays and demanding longer hours, on the grounds that fifteen days are enough.
The diagnosis that is spreading is harsh: Spain is heading towards genuine poverty, not as a temporary setback but as a structural one. If the top percentile can't make the numbers work, what is left for everyone else? The question remains open, and the answer doesn't appear in any official statistic.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (16 replies).
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