Although the statute of workers guarantees the right to paid vacations, Enjoying that time outside the home is not a real possibility for millions of Spaniards. According to the living conditions of the National Statistics Institute, more than a third of the homes could not afford a week of vacation in 2024, which represents an increase of three tenths compared to 2023.
33.4 % of Spanish families had no economic capacity to enjoy at least seven days off in 2024, according to the latest INE data. The figure, which has experienced a slight increase compared to the previous year, more intensely affects households with minors already in charge who live in a rental regime.
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Families with children, the most affected
Households with minors in charge present greater difficulties in facing the cost of a vacation. Among single -parent families with children, 47.8 % could not enjoy a week on vacation. In the case of households composed of a single adult without children, the proportion reaches 34.2 %. On the other hand, households with two working adults have the lowest percentage, with 27.2 %, although the figure remains high. When at least one minor is added, the percentage rises to 30.8 %.
Lourdes Pedrazuela, Secretary of Social Policies, Equality and Training of Use, emphasizes that “in the case of children, it is much more cruel that they cannot have those family days in the countryside, on the beach, on the mountain, we do not talk about great trips. Among the single -parent families with children, that lack reaches almost half of the households”
The weight of housing in the family economy
Housing spending, either in property or rent, seriously condition the ability of families to allocate income to other areas, such as leisure or rest. According to the data, 27.2 % of households with fully paid housing could not go on vacation, a figure that amounts to 30.6 % among those who still pay a mortgage.
The situation is considerably worse among the tenants, and that is that 48.1 % of those who live in rent could not be paid for a week, a percentage that rises to 49.2 % in cases of protected rental or old rent.
Pedrazuela warns that “rent is today much more prohibitive than a mortgage. And, in addition, it has no end. Those who need to rent fall into the macabre wheel of being left every month 40, 60 % of their salary in housing, so they can never save for an entry. In these cases, vacations are not perceived as a right, but as an unattainable luxury.”
Use asks for salary improvements and access to aid
Since use, a substantial improvement of the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) and tax reform to better redistribute resources is claimed. Pedrazuela insists that the housing and the most basic products have eaten the long increases (salary) of recent years and people have to decide between filling the car or putting the heating. ”
In addition, he denounces that the aid aimed at vulnerable families, such as the minimum vital income or the complement for childhood, are not effectively reaching those who need it most, and advocates by simplifying bureaucratic procedures and recovering a universal benefit by son.