Two crises are affecting thousands of people: that of housing and that of loneliness. The effects of the first have spread to practically all age groups, although young people are the ones who suffer the most: they delay their emancipation – until the age of 30, one of the highest in the European Union – due to high rental prices. The second affects older people who live without company, often with tight pensions and with a growing sense of loneliness and social isolation, a threat to health, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The day Alina Sarkisian, a 21-year-old Russian Naval Engineering student, moved from Girona, where she lived with her family, to the house of Paloma López, 74, she was not simply solving an accommodation problem in Madrid. It was December 8, 2025 and both began a coexistence that illustrates one of the most visible paradoxes in our country: young people who cannot pay rent and older people who live in houses with empty rooms. This intergenerational coexistence is part of the Convive program, promoted for years by the NGO Solidarios para el Desarrollo with the support of the Madrid City Council and several universities. In exchange for company and shared time, at least two or three hours a day, the young people have a room where they do not pay a single euro in rent, although they contribute to the expenses of the house. Alina Sarkisian pays 50 euros per month. Nothing comparable to what it means to pay for the full or partial rental of an apartment in the capital. “Student residences cost between 1,200 and 1,400 euros per month and many are far from the faculty,” he explains. Although the coexistence is recent, Paloma López is already clear that the experience fulfills what she expected. His motivation, however, was not only personal, but also social. During the summer he saw reports on television about students who could not afford a room in the capital. “I thought that having two empty rooms was not fair that someone had to give up studying,” she says convinced. According to the Spanish Youth Council (CJE), the youth emancipation rate in 2025 fell to historic lows, standing at around 15% for those under 30 years of age. For Andrea González Henry, president of this organization, the problem responds to a structural failure that is the housing model. «It is experienced as a sensation of vital blockage. You comply with the social mandate—train, work, make efforts—and, even so, you cannot start an autonomous life project. This generates frustration, anxiety and a constant feeling of provisionality among young people,» he says. “Residential insecurity has a direct impact on mental health,” he says. The other side of reality is in the elderly population. According to the 2025 Housing Barometer of the General Council of Technical Architecture of Spain (CGATE), 35% of people over 65 years of age believe that their home directly influences their feeling of loneliness. Furthermore, four out of ten fear feeling alone in the future. Currently, there are more than a dozen intergenerational coexistence programs, normally managed by universities, city councils or foundations. In the Convive program in Madrid, the key is not simply sharing a flat. José Luis Pol, social worker and project coordinator, defines it as “a program where all participants win.” Housing is just the starting point. Students agree to spend time with the elderly person (talking, walking, cooking or accompanying them on errands) and to return home before 10:30 p.m., except on their weekly day off. Coexistence usually lasts one academic year, although it can be extended as long as the studies continue. Although the number of young people applying to join Convive has not grown exponentially, “students from Latin America have increased,” says Pol. The people who offer their home are also older, with an average age of 81 years. The idea of connecting these two realities is not limited only to students, but also to young professionals. An initiative of this type is zInterVIVE, founded by Cristina Aliaga, a project born with the support of the Zaragoza City Council that is now in the pilot phase. It proposes professionally accompanied intergenerational coexistence, with previous workshops, mediation and monitoring. And it starts from a conviction: «They are not independent crises, but complementary needs. The challenge is not only housing; it is relational,» explains Aliaga. Although this program has not started its first coexistence, it already has 32 young people on the waiting list, which confirms the demand for more affordable housing alternatives. The private sector has seen a market niche. Kuvu is a company founded by Joan Fernández to, initially, combat unwanted loneliness. But over time, its founder observed another phenomenon: many older people are not only looking for company, but also an extra income to complement their pension.
Improve the pension
Coexistences function as apartments shared between generations, without the tenant, without age limit, having caretaker functions. «It is not a covert rental or assistance. It is sharing a home from autonomy and respect,» says Fernández. The cost of the room can never be higher than the market price; In that case “we reject clients.” So far they have managed 232 cohabitation contracts in different cities. Marina Temprano, 78 years old, who resides in Leioa, near Bilbao (Bizkaia), attended this Kuvu program precisely. He has shared a house, for two years, with Sara, a student from Irun who pays 325 euros for the room. There is hardly any rental offer in the area. “There are very few rooms available and none are lower than 400 euros,” explains Temprano. For this owner, living together provides company, especially at night, and an income that helps complete the pension. However, she also observes a cultural barrier: “Many older people depend on their children’s opinions and that slows them down.” Jennifer Guzmán, a 30-year-old administrator, is also a user of the service. He came to Spain from the Dominican Republic and for a time lived in an apartment shared with young people. Later, he decided to look for another formula: he now lives in Bilbao with a 93-year-old woman. In addition to the personal connection, the economic difference also plays a role: in Bilbao a room can cost around 550 euros, while she pays around 400. However, experts agree that these initiatives cannot replace public housing policies. The Spanish Youth Council emphasizes that this type of coexistence can be socially positive, but it will not solve the housing access crisis by itself. “It must be clearly understood as a complementary measure,” says González Henry. Alfredo Sanz, president of CGATE, holds the same opinion, for whom “it may be a temporary patch, but never a solution.”
