The population and housing census that the INE has published this Friday shows that in Spain there are more than 7,000 people who are registered in shacks and caravans. 7,199 citizens, specifically, as explained by the National Institute of Statistics.
But this figure, most likely, is far from the number of people who actually live in slums. The deputy general director of Demographic Statistics, Cristina Casaseca, explained at the press conference in which the new census was presented that there is “a certain limitation” to identify all shanty towns, caravans, caravans, prefabricated houses or also the improvised greenhouses in the agricultural season.
“Regarding previous censuses, cave houses have ceased to be accommodation, because the moment they appear in the cadastre they become a dwelling. The way to identify the shacks based on some registration data makes us think that we are leaving enough population, as there is a large population that is not registered in their shack,” he explained. This is: most likely, the number of people living in a shack will be much higher than the 7,199 registered.
The person in charge of the INE has also indicated the towns of El Ejido, in Almería, or Móstoles (Community of Madrid), highlighting those that have “a significant number” of shacks.
The work of the INE, with data as of January 1, 2021, has revealed 400,000 empty homes compared to the data for 2011, which is when the previous census was carried out. The total figure reaches 3.8 million homes, and in its research the agency has based itself on the electricity consumption of homes. Ten years ago, the information was collected by the census agent who visited the buildings.
The new methodology has also made it possible to identify 2.5 million homes for sporadic use, which are those that would be used between one and three months a year. “The municipalities where sporadic use homes abound are located, fundamentally, on the coast and in inland municipalities that are destinations for summer vacations,” the agency points out. “Among the municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants, Noja stood out, where almost half of the homes (47.7%) had sporadic use on January 1, 2021,” he adds.
Benasque (Huesca), Torrenueva Costa (Granada) or the Rioja town of Ezcaray are also among those with the most sporadic use homes, in all cases with a figure of more than 34%.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project