Solo living surge

IN a striking shift in Spanish living arrangements, the number of households in the country has rocketed, suggesting that more people are choosing to live alone.

The study, released on Friday, June 30, compared data collected in January 2021 with that of 2011. It found that the number of households in Spain soared to 18,539,223 by January 2021, an increase of 455,531 from 2011. This remarkable surge, accounting for a 2.5 per cent rise in the total number of households, was revealed by the recent Census of Population and Housing report by the National Institute of Statistics.

Delving deeper into the statistics, 27 per cent of households are now occupied by people living alone, which equates to 5,001,166 people who live on their own.

This figure has seen a remarkable growth of

807,847 people in just a decade, showing a societal shift towards self ­ reliance and personal independence.

While the majority of Spain’s population of 47,400,798 still lives in conventional family homes, the census also sheds light on alternative living arrangements, including dwellings like caravans and communal establishments like barracks, prisons, and convents.