The housing crisis hypocrisy is frustrating

Stuck in permit limbo while Spain complains about housing shortages

As seemingly all of Spain complains about a housing crisis, the local government of Cornudella de Montsant still has not issued me a building permit.

The permit is a necessary step for me to move forward on a renovation project that has been stalled for months, and which would create, in theory, two new housing units out of a previously abandoned 4-story rowhouse.

These apartments would be in the center of a town that has few available rental units, where locals are having trouble finding affordable housing, and where frustrated potential homebuyers are lamenting the lack of options on the market.

I know all of this because I am smack in the middle of it.

I have received offers to buy my property, even if it is still a construction zone. I have communicated with buyers, both directly and through my friend, whose father is the real estate agent who helped me buy it in the first place. I am in constant contact with my architect, who assures me the town is working on the permit, though the last I heard, the town will ask for “clarifications.”

By the way, just in case you’re in need of clarification, this is the structure as it currently stands:

And this is what we have proposed:

A newly insulated roof and a rooftop terrace.

That’s it!

Believe it or not, there is a 56-page document from the architect that outlines the plan. Most of it is boilerplate filler. Some of it is screen captures of products we plan to use in the construction.

I have a budget from a contractor that is ready to go. They have insurance that protects the city from any potential damage to city property, a plan for waste disposal, and a plan for safety during construction. The architect’s “colegio” (which I take to be a professional standards organization) has added its stamp of approval to the project plan. I’ve already paid thousands of euros to the architect so he could prepare all of this for submittal.

And so far, in return, I have received… A vague threat to fine me unless I patch the hole in the stone wall I created four months ago in order to replace a beam, in a wall that won’t even be there after the rooftop terrace is finished.

I am assured that all of this is not a big deal.

But I am also assured every week from domestic and international media that the housing crisis in Spain is a hair-on-fire Very Big Deal, and that it is mainly the fault of short-term rentals, Airbnb, and rich expats driving up prices.

Here is the NY Times less than a month ago (“Barcelona Becomes Ground Zero for Europe’s Housing Dilemma”).

The story gives some indication of how sticky the problem is. As it points out (and as I have as well), there are 4 million empty homes in Spain—but they’re empty for a variety of reasons that are sometimes hard to untangle. The right to housing is in the country’s constitution, but rental prices have surged 57 percent since 2015, and prices have risen 47 percent, while incomes have grown just 33 percent.