Hello, I'm Guy Hedgeco and welcome to Business Daily.

Today we're in Spain, which is one of Europe's best-performing economies.

However, it's also a country which is seeing increasing anger on the streets due to a lack of affordable housing.

The situation has gotten worse over the years.

You know, a few years ago I could rent an apartment.

Now I can barely afford a room in Madrid.

I have to share an apartment with strangers.

I have to keep changing apartments, live with different people.

So it's very hard for me to settle, to really connect with my neighborhood,

to really, yeah, plan my life.

In this episode, I'll be looking at the causes of this crisis, including examining the role of tourism, which many see as a culprit.

I'll be talking to some of those affected who want drastic action from the authorities, as well as meeting others who believe the government

is already doing too much. That's on Business Daily from the World Service.

Blanca Castro has to wash her dishes in the bathtub.

That's because her kitchen has a large hole in the ceiling and leaks water from above, making it dangerous and unusable.

Blanca believes that the company which owns her flat and others in this building

has deliberately halted all maintenance work in order to encourage the tenants to leave.

Because of a time, also, they have stopped fixing things in the building which need

maintenance,

and in some cases that makes it uninhabitable.

The current rental bubble is encouraging a lot of big owners to do what they are doing here,

which is to get rid of the current tenants who have been here a long time

...