The CIS reveals that housing and the economic crisis are the main concerns of Spaniards, despite government optimism

The latest barometer from the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), published this Monday, certifies the distance that separates the story from the government and the reality of Spanish homes. Even with the institutional debate monopolized by the Ceuta border crisis and the migratory phenomenon, housing and the economic crisis are affirmed as the chronic evils that erode Pedro Sánchez's Executive.

Both variables have been consolidated throughout 2026 as the dominant concerns of society, both when evaluating the general situation of the country and when measuring the real impact on the personal economy. Data from September reveal that 37.5% of citizens consider housing to be the biggest problem in Spain, while 21.6% point to the economic crisis. But it is even more shocking how citizens feel it in their daily lives: 27.9% point out the real estate crisis as a major obstacle in their daily lives and 30.1% cite economic difficulties among their three major concerns.

This gap contrasts with the optimism that Moncloa tries to project. The Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, boasted these days of GDP growth of 2.6% for 2026 and an advance of 0.6% in the third quarter, based on job creation and domestic consumption. However, large numbers do not translate into relief for citizens.

Access to housing has become the great concern of the Spanish social model. In the list of concerns, the difficulty of accessing a house has remained undeniably in first place throughout the year, registering 37.5% in September after reaching a peak in May, with 48.9%. That is, in the private sphere, almost three out of every ten Spaniards live with this pressure. Neither the Housing Law nor the containment measures promoted this year by the Government have managed to reverse the situation. Residential inaccessibility blocks the emancipation of young people and is consolidated as the greatest deficit of the Sánchez Executive, exceeding its promises.

The Ceuta crisis

The barometer reveals that the severity of the economic problems does not diminish in the ranking or in a situation as tense as that registered in Ceuta in the last month, which presumably could have led to a great rebound in immigration. Despite the wear and tear caused by the crisis and migratory pressure, the CIS barometer keeps immigration behind the economic crisis and housing as the core of social unrest.

Although immigration as a problem in the country rose to 28.9% in May and registered 19.7% in September, its translation into private life is restricted to 12.6%, relegating it to fifth position in the personal table. This difference confirms that public opinion follows the events in Ceuta as a state crisis or an ideological confrontation, but it is not seen as a threat to its daily stability.

The welfare state

The deterioration of purchasing power coincides with a perception of gradual erosion of the public protection network. Health remains a cause of direct personal concern for 20.1% of those surveyed, while education reaches 7.7%. Families would thus suffer a double harm: the loss of spending capacity and the feeling of degradation in the welfare state, which forces them to assume extraordinary costs that aggravate their finances.

At the educational level, the CIS does not include the impact of the results of the PISA report, which certified a decline in the reading comprehension of Spanish students. Furthermore, the gap between the cost of living and access to training has pushed many households to the financial limit. According to data from the Association of Financial Users, 14.2% of the loans requested in Spain are already used to finance studies, which is equivalent to almost 900,000 loans linked to education.