Headline, January 27 2022/ ''' '' SPAIN'S STUDENT SPLASH '' '''

''' '' SPAIN'S STUDENT

 SPLASH '' '''

 

WITH THE RISE OF THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY - for every subject in the world, student  mobility is increasing, as is the appetite for better education. Welcome, to !WOW! and A-!WOW!.

Spain has about 1.6 million students in its universities. There are about 100,000 beds in student dorms, a shortfall of about 450,000 beds needed, according to JLL study. Even as the pace of housing construction picks up, the gap is expected to grow over the next decade, because the number of students in need of housing is likely to rise even faster.

While learning how to develop video games, student David Leon Serrano, 21, has been enjoying a fairly novel experience for a Spaniard : living in student accommodations on the southern coast of Spain, a five-hour drive from his family home in Madrid.

Studying away from home is a familiar experience in many parts of the world, but a relatively new phenomenon in southern Europe. In Spain, for instance, only about 17 percent of students get their higher education outside their home region, according to the Spanish government.

In the United States, by comparison, residents account for less than 20 percent of the student population in most states.

'' I think that young people now are starting to understand that if we at least move around our own country, it is good for our development,'' Mr.Leon Serrano said, '' not only in terms of finding the best place to study what we want, but also in terms of gaining independence and becoming a more complete person.''

His studio apartment, which includes a kitchenette and a bathroom, costs 700 euros [ close to $800 ] a month, paid for by his parents. The Malaga residency is among 13 such student housing facilities run by Livensa Living, which is partly owned by Brookfield Asset Management in Toronto.

The rising mobility of Spain's student population is fueling a surge in investments in student dorms, largely funded by foreign capital. Investors are also tracking the growing appeal of Spain among foreign students wishing to study there.

The sunshine and outdoor lifestyle of Spain have helped make it the top choice for students taking part in Erasmus+, the European Union's university exchange program.

Spain has also increasingly begun to attract Latin American students, especially those whose native language is Spanish, and it is a popular choice for participants in U.S. programs to study abroad.

Life on campus was shut down for much of 2020 by the pandemic, but students have returned in high numbers, particularly eager to enjoy the community lifestyle they missed while much of the world was on lockdown. Real estate investors have followed suit.

In Malaga, for instance the number of student housing beds rose almost 50 percent over the past year, according to a study published in September by JLI., a real estate services company. Underlining the rebound, new investment in the sector reached Euro 140 million in the first half of 2021, up 140 percent from a year earlier.

Real estate investors are entering a Spanish student housing market that, they say, was not only short of supply but also in urgent need of an overhaul.

Catholic religious orders have long dominated the student dorm market in Spain, and they still provide about half of its beds.

But these Catholic residencies rarely have the gyms, cinema rooms and other facilities that the current generation of students expects, and many also enforce conservative rules, including to ensure that male and female students live apart.

In May, Group Moraval, a Spanish developer specialzing in building students housing, formed a joint venture with EQT Exeter of Sweden to invest Euro 500  million in student accommodation in Spain.

''Student mobility is increasing, as is the appetite for better education,'' said Alvaro Soto de Scals, the chief executive of Moraval.

One reason for lower student mobility in Spain is ''a very strong parental culture, especially compared to my experience in the U.K., where you're pretty much expected to find your own place to live once you turn 18,'' said Amber Banks-Smith, the British assistant manager in Livensa's student housing facility in Malaga.

In fact, the parents pay the rent and handle other administrative issues on behalf of most of the student residents, she said.

Vior, a Belgian company, started investing in student housing in Barcelona and Madrid in 2019, and now has 15 percent of its portfolio in Spain. It is building mostly from scratch, but in September, Xior won a contract to convert into student housing a former army barracks.

Xior  focused on Spain, as well as neighboring Portugal, because it found that '' the existing supply was really limited and outdated, '' said Christian Teunissen, the company's chief executive .

Both countries are now experiencing ''a big shift in supply,'' fuelled by demand for student dorms that are safer and have better amenities than older city apartments.

When he was a student, Mr.Teunissen recalled, ''we just wanted to have fun'' in a student building, with no concern for issues like fire safety infrastructure. But he added that today's students ''want to check into a real apartment, they want more luxury, and even shared bathrooms are no longer OK.''  

The Honor and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Students, Living and the Future, continues. The World Students Society thanks author Raphael Minder.

With respectful dedication to the Students of Spain, and then Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - E-!WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless