The Sevilla village where the housing crisis doesn’t exist and rent costs just €20

If you’re paying hundreds or even thousands of euros every month just to keep a roof over your head, the idea of renting a house for €20 a month probably sounds almost impossible. Yet in one small town in Sevilla province, that is the reality for residents who have lived in municipal homes for decades, while a new batch of properties is about to be offered at the same extraordinary price.

Welcome to Marinaleda, a town of around 2,600 people where the local housing system is very different from the private property market found across much of Spain. The municipality is now finishing 24 new social homes, which are expected to be rented to residents for between €15 and €20 a month.

The €20-a-month homes in Sevilla

The new houses are being built in two groups, with 10 semi-detached homes in one development and 14 in another. They are one- or two-storey houses rather than apartment blocks, following the type of housing traditionally used in Marinaleda. The properties will remain in municipal ownership, meaning residents cannot simply buy them and put them on the open market.

When a family leaves, the home can be allocated to another person who needs it. Applicants must also have been registered as residents of Marinaleda for at least two years, with their individual circumstances taken into account when homes are allocated. But the €15–€20 rent is not the result of someone finding a way to make normal private housing suddenly cost almost nothing. Marinaleda’s system has been built around public land, municipal control and, in some cases, the future residents helping to build their own homes.

Residents helped build their own houses

One of the clearest examples is Pilar Prieto, who has lived in her Marinaleda home since 1993. She and her family helped build the property despite having no previous experience in construction. Future residents worked as labourers during the building process, with the hours they contributed being taken into account when the final cost was calculated.

Pilar says she and her husband helped with jobs including digging foundations before eventually moving into the finished house with their young son. She has paid less than €20 a month ever since. The municipality’s housing model has been operating for decades. According to its own account, public land is made available to self-builders, while materials, technical support and construction assistance have been provided through agreements and public employment programmes. More than 350 homes have been built using the system.

A housing market without private speculation

Marinaleda’s approach is based on keeping housing outside the normal property market. The municipality says land was acquired and municipalised so that it could be used for housing rather than being left open to private speculation. That principle continues with the latest development.

The new homes will remain under municipal control, with the rent adjusted to residents’ circumstances rather than being set according to what a private landlord could charge. Mayor Sergio Gómez, who is also a history teacher, describes the system as management rather than a miracle. He also lives in a municipal home and pays rent to the Ayuntamiento like other residents.

Could the model continue?

The next 24 homes are already nearing completion, but the municipality wants to continue building more affordable housing. Gómez says Marinaleda needs support from the Junta de Andalucía to do so. The national Housing Plan for 2026–2030 includes €7 billion for Spain’s autonomous communities, with at least 40 per cent intended for the construction or acquisition of housing.

Andalucía has been allocated €718.2 million in state funding over the five-year period, alongside a minimum regional contribution of €478.8 million, according to figures cited by the mayor. For anyone struggling to find an affordable home elsewhere in Spain, Marinaleda’s figures are striking. While private rents continue to put pressure on household budgets, residents of this small Sevillian town can still find a municipal house for no more than €20 a month, with some families having stayed in their homes for more than three decades.