Spain leads Europe in apartment living due to cultural norms and historical housing policies, contrasting with other nations’ trends.
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Spain is the European country where the highest percentage of citizens, 65.5%, live in apartments or flats, a cultural tendency linked to horizontal property concepts and historical housing needs following the Spanish Civil War. While other countries like Switzerland (63.4%) and Germany (62.7%) are high, others such as Belgium and Ireland favor single-family homes. In contrast, Ireland’s housing system prioritizes land value extraction, leading to a housing crisis for young people with soaring prices. Mediterranean countries like Malta, Greece, and Italy also show higher rates of apartment living than the European average, reflecting a shared sociological tradition. The rise of multi-unit dwellings in places like Athens was driven by post-war needs for affordable housing. In Spain, 75.2% of households owned their homes in 2021, partly because apartments were cheaper to build and buy, though this trend is shifting due to cultural changes and economic precarity favoring renting. Across Europe, rising costs and interest rates are making renting a perceived necessary solution for many families, particularly in Italy where housing affordability is severely strained.
