Today in Spain: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

Canary govt wants town halls to make it harder for non-residents to buy homes

The regional government of the Canary Islands is looking for ways to address its housing crisis, one of the worst of all autonomous communities in Spain.

The Socialists have suggested that multiple property owners and companies be forced to contribute financially to building public housing, but nationalist party Coalición Canaria and its leader Canary president Fernando Clavijo have put their focus on non-residents.

Clavijo has said that town halls in the archipelago should “not restrict but make it difficult through municipal ordinances for non-residents to purchase housing", a legal amendment he plans to present at a summit of regional leaders to be held in Barcelona.

Rents increase at four times the rate of wages in Spain

Over the past three years, salaries in Spain have increased by 7 percent, while rents have skyrocketed by 29.4 percent, a new study by leading property and employment portals Fotocasa and Infojobs reveals.

As a result, Spaniards who rent are paying on average 47 percent of their wages in rent.

Spain to make wet wipe makers pay for pipe blockages

The Spanish government will make manufacturers of household wet wipes in Spain pay for the clean-up of the “monsters” . as they’ve been dubbed in the Spanish press - these products generate in sewers and wastewater treatment.

This is backed up by a study by the Spanish Association of Water Supply and Sanitation which has calculated that managing this waste that goes down the toilet adds an additional cost of €230 million per year.

In 2019, Valencian authorities had to cough up €10 million to clear a 3-kilometre blockage.

Three quarters of Spaniards feel healthy

Seventy-four percent of Spaniards perceive their health to be good or very good, a new survey by the country's Health Ministry has concluded.

There’s a disparity between higher income and lower income respondents, 83 percent for the former and 70 percent for the latter, but overall there's been a jump in the sense of feeling healthy among Spaniards of 9 percent since 2023.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and chronic back pain are the most common problems among Spanish adults.

Furthermore, 62 percent of Spanish men and 48 percent of Spanish women are overweight.

What has gotten worse over the past decade is mental health, with almost 30 percent of Spaniards showing depressive tendencies, roughly 10 percent more than in 2014.