miguelxt

There seems to be no way of changing the WPM setting after startup.

To say they were "privately owned" doesn't sound right. Cajas de ahorros had no shareholders so profits were not distributed to any "private owner". Leaders and executives of the Cajas were appointed by a mix of local councils, unions, autonomous regions, and other non-private organizations. Juridically, they were "private organizations", but factually, they were just a form of state-owned company, as it was the municipalities and regions that made the important governing decisions.

Why not compare it to the DR? Neighbor right next door with similar demographics to Cuba but closer economic and political system to that of the US.

Not doubt the embargo has done some damage to the wellbeing of the island, but the self imposed economic system makes things far worse.

We do agree. The desired objective of the regulations I mentioned is good. It's a good thing to have some stability as a renter, to not be kicked out and on the streets if you have children and cannot pay the rent, or that yearly rent increases are small enough that renters don't feel asfixiated.

However, we should not only consider the stated objective of the law but the real consequences of them. My point is, housing and rents are quite regulated in Spain. More regulation is being added every year as it serves the political and electoral objectives of our leaders, yet the situation is getting worse. Regulation detached from practical realities will fail to reach the desired objectives.

Cities that have almost completely banned Airbnb (e.g.: NYC) have not seen any improvement on affordability. What's next?

Housing and rent are already heavily regulated in Spain. Some regulations and side effects of those regulations:

  * Minimum contract length of 5 years. 
  * Maximum increase of rental per year regulated to 2/3% (even during high inflation years).
  * It can take years to evict a non-paying tenant. If there are children in the apartment, it's even harder. 
  * Even if the tenant is not paying, you, the landlord, have to keep paying the utilities, because if you stop paying, you'll be charged with "coacciones".
  * If the landlord is not a person but a company, regulation is even harder. 
  * In some cities like Barcelona, regulation goes beyond. Maximum prices set by the local government, seasonal contracts banned, and even room rentals regulated.
  * And all that is not going into detail of the "Okupa" problem.

In Costa Rica, they don't even use street names. For instance, "50 meters down the old store, with a green door" is a valid address.

While I do agree with your opinion, I think the opposite is also true. It feels good to believe you didn't get there because "The game is rigged", "You have to be born lucky", "The house always wins", etc, etc. This defeatist/powerless way of thinking may in fact make it worse for you. When hope is lost, what's left?

I think you and the parent comment are confusing the term "liberal". He refers to "liberal" in the classical sense: free markets, limited government, rule of law, etc. You mean "liberal" in the North American sense: lefty, social justice, etc.

Hard banning Airbnbs will for sure push long-term rent prices down, but not by an amount enough to make them affordable. We already have evidence from cities with active bans. Prices in NYC or Lisbon have not come down significantly.

We still have to wait a few years to see the real effect that bans have on prices. Lowering prices at most 3-5% by banning Airbnb won't make anybody happy and will come with some negative effects like reduced tourism (and other economic activity), which is a very important part of Spain's GDP.

The fundamental issue cannot be ignored: supply and demand. Spain population has increased by 2 million in just 2 years, far outpacing residential construction. Right now, the system excludes those who cannot afford the ever-increasing rents. Rent control, although well-intentioned and a very popular policy, has numerous negative effects supported by a variety of studies both in Spain and abroad. Rent control or any other alternate system to allocate the scarce units will leave many without access to housing.

The solution, IMHO, building more, could be theoretically be championed by the State, but with ever-increasing construction costs, regulation, taxes on everything, scarcity of land in big cities, and pensions entitlements, where will the money come from? It's not cheap to build with the quality standards that we all desire everyone to have.

Building co-ops like those that exist in Vienna do exist in Spain, but they are not a panacea, the same problems that a State-run initiative has will apply.

What do you mean at taxpayer expense? Spanish's National Lottery is one of the few State-run enterprises that returns real money to the taxpayer.

Another hit from Neal. I wonder (and envy, in a good way) where does he gets the time to work and all this wonderful little games.