The problem of accommodation and the housing crisis, with very high prices, is holding back thousands of young foreigners who choose Spain as their first destination to study, and for 30% this is one of their biggest concerns. The report “Student accommodation and international recruitment: challenges and opportunities in Spain 2025” produced by Spain Education Programs (SEP) and supported by ICEX and EDUESPAÑA points out that the average monthly cost of living for international students has risen by 76% between the 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 academic years.
Accommodation is a ‘critical’ factor for almost a third of international students, affecting their comfort, safety, cultural immersion and academic performance. The study highlights ‘the imminent risk’ that the housing crisis will ‘undermine recruitment efforts’ for these foreigners, who spend more than €6.3 billion each year, a figure that is on the rise.
The authors of the report, Cristina Grasset, Director of SPE, and Bárbara García, a collaborator with this organisation, estimate that around 9 million students will study abroad in 2030, and although Spain should remain a quality destination, ‘housing problems could hinder future growth’. In the 2022-2023 academic year, there were 161,384 international students enrolled in Spanish universities to pursue a full degree.
‘To advance internationalisation, Spanish universities must take an active role and invest in accommodation services and establish public-private partnerships,’ said the director of SEP during the presentation of the report at FITUR, noting that ‘guaranteeing adequate housing will give universities a competitive advantage’. They point to the public University of Oviedo as an example, which offers accommodation to international students through a combination of options: residences, families, shared flats and even cohabitation with elderly people.
The CEO of ICEX, Elisa Carbonell, warns in this report that ‘in cities with active affordable housing and land-use planning policies, student demand has been integrated without significant distortions, while where the supply of housing is limited, the massive arrival of international students can push up rental prices and displace local residents.’
ICEX agrees on the need for universities, local governments and the real estate sector to provide joint solutions, such as incentives for the construction of affordable housing, regulation of temporary rentals or promotion of public residences. Foreign students studying in Spain are increasingly staying in spaces managed by private companies, according to the study, which warns that they face skyrocketing room prices due to the shortage of rental properties and increased competition among tenants.
Real estate platforms recorded a 14% increase in 2024 (Fotocasa) and 10.9% in 2025 (Idealista).
‘The growth of foreign students in Spain is 5% per year, but if we lose our advantages in terms of value for money, we lose them. The strategy is to make collaborative efforts among all market players,’ says Grasset. In Spain, there is no financial assistance for international students planning to pursue a degree at a university, while other competing countries are taking measures.
Germany and France have approved incentives, and Australia requires universities to guarantee housing. France offers Personalised Housing Assistance (APL), housing from the Regional Centre for University and School Works (CROUS) and Campus France initiatives. The Netherlands has opted to reduce student admissions and limit programmes taught in English, while the UK government has committed to building 1.5 million homes in five years and will charge international students a special fee from 2028.
Bárbara García recalls the importance of maintaining the satisfaction level of a generation of students, Generation Z, which is characterised by greater problems of adaptation and resilience. ‘They are ambassadors for Spain, and a lack of accommodation solutions not only fails to ensure the recruitment of talent but also its retention. Many stay in Spain because they fall in love with the country,’ she adds.
The report warns of the current uncertainty surrounding pending legislation or regulatory changes and offers proposals such as communicating accommodation options to admitted students before their arrival in Spain. It also points out that the shift towards short-term tourist rentals plays a role in limiting the supply of housing for students and warns of the paralysis of the EduBridge to Spain programme, announced in June 2025 to attract students ‘blocked’ by restrictive US policies.
In another aspect, they call for the streamlining of study visas for foreigners from outside the European Union, most of them from the US, as there are currently more than 300 who are still waiting ‘when classes have already started’, according to sources from the Association of American University Programmes in Spain (Apune) speaking to EFE.