If the owner of your apartment has more than one rented property, it is likely that you have noticed the price hike more than the tenant of a landlord who has only one property on the market. In fact, according to a study by the Esade think tank published this Thursday, the more apartments an owner accumulates, the more they increase the monthly payments.

The housing crisis—which isn't unique to us—is so acute and so present in the consciousness and lived experience of Catalans that there's no doubt it will be resolved, since, paradoxically, it's a very solvable problem. The challenge is to ensure the availability of decent housing for a population that continues to grow, but not indefinitely. It's also about providing for the visitors and temporary residents that a dynamic economy demands, while avoiding a disproportionate number of empty homes. It can be done.