Urgent warning UK tourists and expats in Spain will be 'forced to leave'

Outpriced pensioners - including UK tourists and expats - are being forced to leave a city, it is feared.

Spiralling rental costs are becoming increasingly chalenging for residents, notably pensioners, in Valencia. Tens of thousands took to the streets recently under the plea "Valencia is drowning" (València s'ofega).

Antonio, aged 76, shared his plight with the website, revealing his move 40 kilometres (25 miles) away due to unaffordable rents: "I have an average pension, and nothing was less than 600-700 euros." He said rent would gulp down half his income. With a frank calculation, he added: "It's 400 euros. I earn 1,040 and you have to add food and other expenses."

The protesters are prepared for a long haul, vowing to stay put until at least Sunday, with promises to battle for all they deserve. Alba Font, who is also demonstrating, said: "We will not give up until we achieve our goals because our lives depend on it."

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Moreover, the demonstrators’ resolve is turning into concrete strategy as Mr Font elaborates: "The camp is a political strategy built day by day. We have reclaimed the Town Hall square and made it ours, as a symbol of neighbourhood resistance. Now we are taking a step further: if we don't have a home, the square alone is no longer enough for us. We want everything and we will fight for everything."

One person fired back, asking: "Has anyone explained what the leaders of the City of Valencia did with all the money that the City made from the 2.2 million visitors a year? Did they do nothing at all to protect the people of the City and ensure that they could afford to continue to live there? Were there no opportunities to provide social housing or enact local laws to limit property price increases? "

's report comes a whopping 33.4 per cent of all properties in the are snapped up by non-Spaniards. Meanwhile, , with Valencia not far behind at 28.8 per cent and Murcia at 23.6 per cent. In Catalonia, the figure stands at 16.1 per cent, while Andalusia sees 13.7 per cent of its properties going to international buyers.