Persistent Poverty in Spain: A Structural Crisis Overlooked

The State of Poverty

• In 2025, 25.7% of the Spanish population—12.6 million people—remained at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
• The AROPE index (at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion) has not dropped below 25% in the last 15 years, indicating a deep-seated structural issue.
• Regional disparities are extreme: poverty risk stands at 14.7% in the Basque Country compared to 43.7% in the autonomous city of Melilla.
• Child poverty remains high at 28.7%, with stark variations ranging from 13.4% in the Basque Country to 40.2% in Murcia.

Drivers and Policy Failures

• Macroeconomic growth and employment improvements have failed to proportionally reduce poverty rates, revealing a disconnect between statistics and daily living conditions.
• The housing crisis is a central factor: over 43% of people living in rental housing are at risk of poverty. Spanish property prices surged 80.6% between 2015 and 2025, outpacing the European average.
• Current social policies serve more to maintain rather than eliminate poverty, with insufficient budget allocation for long-term strategies.

Systemic Critiques

• The Minimum Vital Income (IMV) has faced intense criticism for administrative delays and errors that create unpayable debts for beneficiaries, leading to ongoing legal and social disputes.
• Critics argue that the poor are marginalized as political subjects, leaving a third of the population without meaningful representation or recourse.
• Social workers report that privatization and outsourcing of social services have degraded the quality of care and led to precarious labor conditions, as institutions prioritize cost-saving over effective poverty eradication.