Thirty percent of homeless ended up on streets in last year, says report
Around 23,000 people are currently living rough, says National Statistics Institute
Nearly 23,000 people – most of them men – are living on the streets of Spain because they have lost their jobs and homes, as the economic crisis continues to take its toll on the nation, statistics released on Friday show.
Of that figure, 32 percent have lost their homes this year and have had to seek assistance from social aid organizations and shelters, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported.
Men make up 80 percent of that total, and half of them are under the age of 45.
According to the INE, the principal causes for so many people to have to live out on the streets are loss of employment, inability to make mortgage payments, and separation or divorce from their partners.
Spaniards and foreign-born nationals are equally divided in the total figure. Africans make up the largest number of foreigners who don’t have a roof over their heads.
