The latest barometer from the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), published this Monday, certifies the gap between the narrative from the government and the reality of Spanish households. Even with the institutional debate monopolized by the Ceuta border crisis and the migration phenomenon, housing and the economic crisis remain the chronic issues that erode Pedro Sánchez’s Executive.
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Both variables have 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 personal economy. The September data reveals that 37.5% of citizens place housing as the biggest problem in Spain, while 21.6% point to the economic crisis. But it is even more striking how citizens feel it in their daily lives: 27.9% point to the housing crisis as a major obstacle in their daily life and 30.1% cite economic difficulties among their top three concerns.
This gap contrasts with the optimism that is attempted to be projected from Moncloa. The Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, boasted these days of a GDP growth of 2.6% for 2026 and an advance of 0.6% in the third quarter, relying on job creation and internal consumption. However, the big 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 in accessing a home has remained irrefutably 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 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 consolidates as the biggest deficit of Sánchez’s Executive, overwhelming its promises.
The Ceuta crisis
The barometer reveals that the severity of economic problems does not diminish in the ranking even in a tense situation like the one recorded in Ceuta in the last month, which presumably could have meant a great surge in immigration. Despite the wear caused by the crisis and migratory pressure, the CIS barometer maintains immigration behind the economic crisis and housing as the core of social unrest.
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Although immigration as a problem of the country rose to 28.9% in May and registers 19.7% in September, its translation to private life is limited to 12.6%, relegating it to fifth position in the personal ranking. This difference confirms that public opinion follows the events in Ceuta as a state crisis or an ideological confrontation, but does not see it as a threat to their daily stability.
The Welfare State
The deterioration of purchasing power coincides with a perception of gradual wear of the public protection network. Healthcare remains a direct personal concern for 20.1% of respondents, while education reaches 7.7%. Families thus suffer a double harm: loss of spending capacity and the feeling of degradation in the welfare state, which forces them to bear extraordinary costs that worsen their economy.
In the educational field, the CIS does not record the impact of the PISA report results, which certified a setback in the reading comprehension of Spanish students. Furthermore, the gap between the cost of living and access to education has pushed many households to the economic limit. According to data from the Association of Financial Users, 14.2% of loans requested in Spain are already destined to finance studies, which equals almost 900,000 education-related loans.
The CIS barometer has confirmed a certain decline of the PSOE due to the situation in Ceuta. The socialists lose two points but would maintain a 5.5-point lead over the PP, a record far from the polls of the media. However, this CIS leaves worse news for Sánchez. The real challenge for the Government remains housing and the economic crisis. Without effective solutions, the gap between the official optimism of Moncloa and the reality of citizens formalizes as a determining factor in the election year.
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