“Girls wanted, preferably”. It was one of the phrases that Julián, a 25-year-old teacher, had to hear most frequently during his search for a flat in Córdoba.

At that time (from this story about four years ago), I shared an apartment in the Andalusian city with two other people (boy and girl) and they all wanted to move.

After several refusals and many headaches, he decided to ask one of the landlords the reason for that decision. The answer was emphatic: “They are cleaner, more orderly”.

Julián’s testimony is not anecdotal. There are several men who, when asked during the preparation of this article, have said that, when looking for a space in a shared apartment, they always have to lose.

The data supports his statements: according to figures from Idealista, in the community of Madrid, one of those with the most stressed rents in the entire country, there are 2.8 apartments exclusively for girls for every apartment only for boys, almost triple.

The trend extends to other provinces with similar housing problems, such as the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Barcelona or Malaga.

The latter has the highest percentage of flats only for girls of all those analysed, with almost a third of the offer dedicated solely to them, while the former is the most equal.

Even so, the houses inhabited only by women double those that are exclusively for men.

Although the most common thing in sharing ads is for the apartment to be mixed, there are times when there is a clear preference for girls.

In fact, it is not uncommon to find in these ads texts like the following, found among shared apartments in Barcelona:

“Hello! We are looking for a girl for our apartment […]. It is essential that the girl is working and is for a long term (minimum one year). We are two Spanish girls and three boys”.

This other advertisement, to live together in a family home in Alpedrete (Madrid), has the same structure: “A room for rent for one or two people […]. preferably female.

There is no problem if there is a minor […]. There are three people on the floor: my partner, my mother and I”.

In general, rental prices in Spain have skyrocketed since the end of the pandemic. Many are those who, once the university period is over, are forced to continue sharing a flat because their economic situation does not allow them another type of home.

Antonio Carroza, president of Alquiler Seguro, supports this argument and adds that it is evident that “the general rise in prices and a deterioration in the working conditions of the population have caused the age at which young people can go to live to be delayed alone”.

In Spain, young people emancipate themselves at the age of 30, on average, one of the latest ages in the countries of the European Union, according to Eurostat figures.

Added to the scarcity in the offer for the male gender are other no less important questions: What are those flats that men live in? Do they pay more or less than women? How many people live?

The characteristics vary considerably depending on the province in question. In the case of Madrid, the rooms for women have an average price of 418.4 euros, while for men they amount to 431.2.

Barcelona is the one that presents the greatest divergences in this sense, since they pay an average of 800 euros, while they do not even touch 500.

In other places, like Malaga, size is the jarring element. While the girls’ flats have an average surface area of 133.5 m², the boys’ flats remain at 102.1.

This is also the average size of the masculine houses in Valencia, while those of the opposite gender tend to be about 10 m² larger.

The Balearic Islands is the one with the least distance between the two genres because the prices are, in both cases, much higher than in the rest of the country.

With the statistical issue resolved and the data agreeing with the men who regret having fewer rental options, it remains to try to understand how these differences are achieved.

Do women avoid sharing a flat with men? Do men really have a hard time finding a flat? What role do landlords play in all this? Aren’t girls also problematic?

Carroza estimates that the main criteria when looking for a partner are common preferences and tastes:

“More than girls looking for other girls to live with, in our files we have ads that give more weight to criteria such as age or origin.

For example, there are student flats that come from the same place because that gives them some confidence. In the end, you want people to contribute something to you”.

However, other people believe that the difference between being a partner or a partner is the most important thing..

“The Boys (Straight): Sucks”

Claudia, 32, lives in Madrid and is looking for a partner to live with. She works in the technology sector and already spends eight hours a day in a team of ten people in which she is the only woman. So when she gets home, she prefers to indulge in a bit of “girly energy for a change.”.

For her, in addition, there is another important factor in her preference for girls to share a flat, which consists in avoiding the possibility of the relationship becoming sexualized:

“I have not exactly experienced this with a flatmate, but people from my close environment, such as roommates of my couples or work colleagues, have developed small crushes for me on some occasions, with a situation that even became unpleasant”.

Nor would she have any problems living with gay boys, with whom “she has never felt violated”.

The testimony of Marcos (fictitious name since he prefers not to identify himself), who has shared a house for several years in the capital, is no less surprising.

The young man, 25 years old, works in a magazine. A few years ago he had a “somewhat difficult” experience with a colleague.

After a rather tense situation that lasted over time, the girl ended up punching the other member of the household and threw a clothesline at Marcos himself.

After this, they did not see each other again.. Despite the seriousness of the facts, he acknowledges that this moment was no worse than the only time he had lived with a “straight man”, which he qualifies as “the worst of all.”.

Two months of suffering

At the other end of the spectrum was Fran, a 25-year-old worker in the technology sector who, after living in Seville for four years, decided to change her environment and find a new home:

“It took me two months to find something decent, because that everything that was available at a normal price was only for girls or students”.

It also points out that the mixed apartments were “in worse areas” or had a higher price.

Something similar happened to Manuel, 18, who a few weeks ago went to Granada with three friends looking for a flat to share in his first year of university.

They saw four without any success. The landlords refused because they “preferred girls over boys”. When they asked why, one of them dropped that “boys always mess up more”.

María, currently an occupational therapist, also had a similar experience during her university years. He shared a flat in Malaga with three girls until the third year of his degree, when a friend of his asked him to occupy the room that had been left free.

Although in this case they had no problem, their landlady was quite reticent, since she maintained that “a boy is not going to take care of the apartment because boys are not usually very clean.”. María clarifies that in the end they not only succeeded, but the following year they all repeated.

Refuse boys to take care of investment

Sometimes, the landlords themselves veto the boys, as happened to Manuel or María’s friend, for issues related to cleanliness or tranquility.

The president of Alquiler Seguro points out that some owners consider that male tenants may pose a “little point of risk”, since “men tend to have more parties or take less care of the furniture”.

Alfredo has a flat for rent in Arganzuela (Madrid) where a girl currently lives and is looking for someone to occupy the spare room. On another occasion, he would not care about the gender of the new tenant, but in this case he is looking for a woman:

“There is currently a very young Argentinian girl who has just arrived in Spain in the apartment and I thought that she would be more comfortable with someone of the same gender. […]. It has nothing to do with cleanliness, tranquility or customs. I just think that this way I can make life easier for the girl.”.

And what about women?

The short answer to the question Are women never the problem? is no and the case of Eva is a representative example. The young woman began to share a flat in Madrid almost a decade ago and clearly remembers her worst experiences, all with girls, which are now her “best stories when having a drink”.

The first case, that of a classmate from the residence hall where she had been the first year and who offered her to share a flat. Although she already knew that the girl was a disaster, she did not expect how far things could go:

“We had to clean up after her. There was a table in the living room where she used to study and cleaning I found a piece of toast attached to some notes from January. We were, at least, in April […] The thing is that I loved that girl a lot because she was a very good aunt, but to live… well bad “.

Helena, a 22-year-old student, also experienced unpleasant situations not long after, when she decided it was a good idea to go live with four other friends she had just met at her residence: “It was one of the most chaotic decisions I’ve ever made”.

Coexistence deteriorated over time due to the incompatibility of the tenants, to the point of creating two completely opposing sides (at the level of a pitched battle).

Helena herself acknowledges that “going to live with interests so different from yours and without really knowing them is very difficult”. Her landlord did not allow boys because “girls are usually cleaner”.

One of his last experiences, it was with a boy and he admits that, although living together was going well, “you could tell that he was a man, especially when it came to cleaning”, which makes him “a little angry”.

The apartment was located in Carabanchel, an area of Madrid where apartments exclusively for girls account for more than a third of the total offer.

The data reflects this trend in other districts on the periphery, such as Moratalaz, Vallecas, Hortaleza or Vicálvaro, where this figure shoots up to 40.7%..

The definitive statement that could settle all controversy is perhaps that of Laura, a media employee who, at 29, has finally stopped sharing a flat: “Since I live alone, I no longer want to live with anyone”.

However, the current situation does not seem to change the most popular way of life (by obligation) of the young and the not so young who, when they can no longer cope with their partner, can only roll the dice again and wait for have better luck.