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Finding a room is once again a nightmare for students in Barcelona
September is approaching, bringing the same problem for thousands of university students in Barcelona: finding an affordable room before classes start. The supply remains scarce, prices are still very high, and fraudulent ads add another challenge to a search that, for some young people, even ends up affecting whether they can continue their studies.
Mohammed Rida, a second-year Chemical Engineering student at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, knows that pressure well. During the past academic year, he has had to travel from Vilanova i la Geltrú to Barcelona, a routine that at certain times forced him to get up before dawn in order to arrive at class on time.
Moving closer has not been easy either. After contacting dozens of listings, he says he encountered numerous fake adverts and even lost money while trying to reserve a room that did not exist under the promised conditions. The situation ended in a complaint to the Mossos d'Esquadra.
Price is the other major obstacle. Finding rooms for more than 600 euros a month has become commonplace in Barcelona, even in shared flats with several people. Utilities, deposits and other conditions can be added to that amount, raising the real cost of studying away from home even further.
University halls of residence do not solve the problem for everyone either. Their fees are beyond many families' budgets, and high demand quickly reduces the places available. Those seeking a conventional contract also compete with workers, international students and other groups for an increasingly limited supply.
The property sector insists that the main problem lies precisely in that lack of available housing. Montserrat Junyent, president of the Associació d’Agents Immobiliaris de Catalunya, has pointed on different occasions to the intense pressure on the rental market, where rooms have gained ground over renting whole flats.
The consequences are felt beyond estate agencies. Some students spend hours on trains and public transport every day, cut their social life to a minimum or end up reconsidering where and what to study. Alternatives such as sharing a home with older people exist, but they still occupy a small space compared with the number of young people who need accommodation each academic year.
September thus once again turns housing into an unexpected part of Barcelona's university calendar. Even before choosing electives or preparing timetables, many students have to answer a far more basic question: how much can they pay for a room, and how far are they willing to travel each morning?