In the last decade, the housing market in the Spanish State has undergone a profound transformation with the massive entry of so-called investment funds, popularly known as “vulture funds.” Their strategy has consisted of acquiring entire portfolios of properties at reduced prices, taking advantage of the financial crisis and the privatization of public housing stocks. A notable example was the 2013 sale of nearly 1,900 public housing units from the Madrid City Council to the fund Blackstone, which were later resold at a much higher value.
Once in possession of the properties, the business model of these entities is based on maximizing profitability through abusive rent increases and pressure on tenants. Cases like that of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman who has lived in the same apartment in Madrid for seven decades, illustrate this dynamic. After a fund purchased the building, the owner company sought to increase her rent from the 440 euros she was paying to 1,650 euros per month, an amount higher than her pension, leading to an eviction order.
Tactics of real estate harassment or mobbing constitute another common tool to force families out. Residents of number 7 Tribulete Street, in the Madrid neighborhood of Lavapiés, have endured two years of continuous construction work, leaks, falling debris, and utility cuts since the fund “Elix Rental Housing” bought the building in 2024. This situation, denounced by the Tenants’ Union, has led to the first collective criminal complaint in Spain against an investment fund for real estate harassment, a judicial case that was admitted for processing and brought company executives to the defendant’s bench.
The judicial response is beginning to bear fruit. In 2023, a court in Barcelona issued a pioneering ruling that declared null and void nine abusive clauses imposed by the fund Azora in a rental contract, including one that allowed for a 30% rent increase. This ruling set an important moral precedent and opened the door for more affected individuals to report these practices.
Ultimately, the actions of investment funds highlight the financialization of housing, where this essential need is treated as a mere speculative asset. Faced with this situation, neighborhood movements and tenants’ unions continue to mobilize to demand a halt to evictions and the recovery of a public housing stock that guarantees the right to a home, while the justice system begins to curb abusive practices.