Carmen Naranjo, 47, shares a nine-bedroom flat in central Madrid for €480 a month. Despite having two jobs, she cannot afford the €5,000 or €6,000 upfront required for a conventional rental.
Carmen Naranjo is 47 years old and has two jobs, but she cannot rent a home on her own in Madrid. She lives in a room in a nine-bedroom flat in the Ventura Rodríguez neighbourhood, in the centre of the capital, for which she pays €480 a month. The flat has only one bathroom, a small kitchen, and almost no common space, according to cronista.com.
The problem is not the monthly rent, but the initial payment. "I would have to pay four months in advance: two months for the protected rent of the Community of Madrid, one month as a deposit, one month in advance... Where am I supposed to get €5,000 or €6,000 to just hand over like that in one month? It's impossible for me," Carmen explains. Even if she could manage the monthly rent, gathering several thousand euros at once becomes a barrier she cannot overcome.
Carmen insists that her situation is not due to a lack of employment, but to the economic conditions required to rent. "I have no option for renting, not even a small loft, I don't meet the requirements they ask for," she points out. The main obstacle is the initial payment that must be made all at once.
Living with eight other people from different nationalities is also not easy at her age. "When you have a confrontation in the flat or argue with someone, you feel like leaving," she admits. The problem, she acknowledges, is what to do afterwards.
Her alternative would be to return to her parents' hometown in Ciudad Real, but that would mean leaving the two jobs she has in Madrid and starting almost from scratch. "Then I think about what I would do in the village," she admits. "I consider moving to the village with my parents and having them support me, or trying to make a life there," she confessed on television.
Looking for housing away from the centre has not given her better options either. She has looked at rooms in southern municipalities like Leganés or Getafe, but prices are still high. "I've looked in Leganés and Getafe and they ask for €450 for the room," she notes. The difference with the €480 she pays in the centre is so small that it does not justify the daily commute. "I prefer to live in the centre and save myself an hour of public transport, even if I have to give up some things," she explains.
Carmen's case reflects an increasingly common situation in Madrid among those who, despite having regular income, cannot access a conventional rental. The housing market in the capital and its metropolitan area maintains prices that force many workers to share flats or move to nearby municipalities, where rooms are offered at prices similar to those in the centre.
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