Susana Abaitua and Maxi Iglesias did not hold back on El Hormiguero, sharing raw accounts of their most difficult living situations. Their stories highlight the harsh realities behind Spain’s housing crisis as they introduce their new film Nuda propiedad.
Susana Abaitua and Maxi Iglesias sat down on ‘El Hormiguero’ and skipped the usual movie talk. The spotlight turned to the hard truth of finding a decent place to live in Spain. No filters. No gloss. Both actors shared the worst homes they ever had. Their stories hit close to home for many young people in Spain.
Maxi Iglesias spoke plainly. He lived with his mother and three dogs in a 50-square-meter flat until he was 19. No bedroom. No privacy. “I slept on a sofa bed,” he said. That was his life until he found steady work. Even then, things stayed tough. On film shoots, he sometimes waited in windowless basements. There was nowhere else for actors to rest.
According to Euronews, the average asking rent in Spain reached 15.1 euros per square meter in August 2026, up 5.8% from the previous year.
Susana Abaitua’s story was just as rough. She had to leave her apartment because of cockroaches. The infestation never stopped. Her neighbors refused to fumigate the building. “I killed the ones in my flat, but they always came back. I couldn’t sleep. Eventually, I was told nothing would be done, so I left,” she said. She felt powerless. Tenants often do.
Pablo Motos, the host, joined in. He remembered his first apartment in Madrid. The address sounded fancy—Calle Jorge Juan. The reality was not. The floors slanted. Cracks ran through the walls. Pigeons invaded. One day, an old cistern almost fell on him after he flushed the toilet. He barely avoided a serious accident. Even a prime location can be a nightmare.
Their stories tied straight into the theme of their new film, ‘Nuda propiedad’. The movie comes out on October 2, 2026. It looks at the practice of buying property where the previous owner, usually elderly, keeps the right to live there until death. This is legal in Spain. It shows how desperate people are to find a home in a market that keeps getting tougher.
Official statistics from INE show that in 2024, 28.1% of tenants renting at market rates in Spain spent more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs. This financial strain is compounded by a structural housing shortage, with Reuters and AFP reporting a deficit of around 750,000 homes and projections that the gap could exceed 1 million by 2028.
The talk got more direct. Pablo Motos asked if some couples stay together just because they can’t afford to split up. Maxi Iglesias answered right away. “Unfortunately, yes. Many young people have no choice but to share a home because a single salary cannot cover today’s rents,” he said. He added that this is not only a Spanish problem. The same thing is happening across Europe. In a perfect world, people would live together for love, not money. Reality is different.
The show gave more than just personal stories. It showed a country where living alone is out of reach for many. The actors’ honesty broke the myth that fame protects you from the housing crisis. Their struggles are the same as those faced by millions in Spain.
Spain’s housing market is under pressure. Rents keep rising. Wages are stuck. Affordable homes are hard to find. Even celebrities end up in bad or unstable housing. The fact that these problems came up so openly on ‘El Hormiguero’ says a lot. People are losing patience. ‘Nuda propiedad’ is about to hit theaters, but its story is already real. The film’s plot is not fiction. It’s what people are living now. Until housing is a right, not a privilege, stories like these will keep coming. That’s the reality.
