Maria Teresa lives in Barcelona and survives on a pension of just 840 euros a month, well below the 1,200 euros she pays in rent. To be able to keep a roof over her head, the 80-year-old retiree found herself forced to share a house with university students, a reality that mirrors the growing difficulties faced by retirees in large Spanish cities and beyond.
The case went viral after being publicized by content creator JIRE4, who published an interview with the octogenarian on YouTube. In the video, Maria Teresa explains in a calm but emotional voice that the pension she receives does not even cover her basic expenses.
According to the Spanish portal Noticias Trabajo, Barcelona is currently one of the most expensive cities in Spain. According to the Idealista portal, in July 2025 the square meter rented reached 23.4 euros, which represents an increase of 8.3% compared to the previous year. The average value of rent already exceeds the Spanish minimum wage, which is around 1,184 euros per month.
A reform that is not enough to live
The 80-year-old retiree confesses that she has no other option than to rent rooms to young students to survive. “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be able to stay here”, he says. The pension you receive is the result of the sum of two payments, one for retirement and one for widowhood, which total 840 euros per month.
Even with this income, Maria Teresa constantly lives in fear of not being able to pay the bills. Electricity, food and medicine are increasingly weighing on the budget. “I can’t buy fish, nor keep the health insurance I had”, he laments.
The situation is made worse by the fact that in Barcelona there are restrictions on renting rooms to students, a measure that aims to limit real estate speculation, but in the case of this retired woman, it puts her survival at risk.
A lifetime of work, but few contributions
Maria Teresa started working at the age of 17, but throughout her professional life she was only registered with Social Security for a short time. Like many workers at the time, he accepted jobs without a formal contract to receive a slightly higher salary. “At that time, if you wanted to earn more, they wouldn’t make you discount”, he recalls.
This choice, made out of necessity, had direct consequences for the reform it receives today. In total, only 11 years of legal contributions were recorded, which drastically reduced the pension value. “I didn’t think about retirement, I didn’t think about tomorrow, and tomorrow came”, he confesses sadly.
The weight of age and loneliness
Widowed for several years, Maria Teresa lives alone with the young students who rent the rooms in her house. Despite the age difference, living together has brought him some comfort. “I feel accompanied, but at the same time ashamed for having ended up in this situation”, she says.
The video of the interview, published on YouTube, quickly surpassed one hundred thousand views. In the comments, messages of support and indignation multiply from those who consider it “unfair that a woman who has worked all her life has to share a house at the age of 80 to be able to live”.
A problem that repeats itself across Europe
Maria Teresa’s case is not isolated. In several European cities, rents are rising much faster than pensions. In Spain, the average rental price increased by 12% in one year, while pensions grew by just 3.8%. In Portugal, the difference is similar, especially in Lisbon and Porto.
The aging of the population and the lack of affordable housing are creating a new form of exclusion: retirees forced to share a home or return to the job market to supplement their income.
In the interview, he makes an emotional appeal to the authorities. “I’m just asking for a little support, because of my age and to be able to survive. I don’t want to continue like this”, he says, in a tone of resignation that has moved thousands of people.
According to , the 80-year-old retiree admits that she has no close family who can help her financially. His only source of income continues to be his pension, which is insufficient to cover basic expenses, even after a lifetime of work.
Young and old under the same roof
The story of this 80-year-old pensioner raises a reflection on the new model of cohabitation in big cities. What was once a choice, renting rooms to students, has become a necessity. Coexistence between generations, although it brings company, highlights the economic gap between precarious young people and vulnerable elderly people.
In recent years, the phenomenon has also grown in Portugal, especially in Lisbon and Porto, where average rents now exceed 1,300 euros. Many retirees choose to share a house with students or immigrant workers to pay the rent.
The vulnerability of lower pensions
In Spain, around one million pensioners receive less than 900 euros per month, according to Social Security data. In Portugal, the scenario is not very different: more than 600 thousand retirees live on pensions of less than 500 euros, according to the National Statistics Institute.
Experts warn that the rise in the cost of living, without a fair update to pensions, could push thousands of elderly people into situations of poverty. The case of Maria Teresa is just one portrait of an increasingly visible European problem.
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