Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2011, a week before Benedict XVI arrived in Madrid for World Youth Day. The rental prices it cites (120 euros a week, 50 euros and up to 1,500 euros a day, 800 euros a week) are 2011 figures.
There is one week to go before the Pope arrives in Madrid. The event will bring a huge influx of “faithful”, and in Madrid some private individuals are already making hay. Although the city council and the Church itself have set up sports halls where pilgrims coming from elsewhere can sleep, not everyone is willing to sleep on a sports hall floor, so many will stay in hotels and in private homes.
Some people will be “very generous” and lend their home for a week without asking for anything in return, but there are also those who decide to take advantage of an event like this to earn some extra money from their home.
The rental offers vary widely: from rooms where the owner charges €120 for the whole week to others that charge €50 a day.
Naturally, the price goes up depending on where the property is, so some homes located opposite or near the altar charge up to €1,500 a day, although there are few of these left, as most have already been booked.
There have even been cases of people who posted an ad at a high price just to see what happened (“if it works, it works”) and were surprised to find that in less than two hours they had rented out a room in their home for €800 for the whole week.
So, as we can see, Benedict XVI causes more of a stir than many film stars, or at least his followers are willing to spend much more to attend these events. Meanwhile, some private individuals are taking advantage of the event to turn these seven days into a profitable business.
Further reading
Featured image: © Peter Potrowl, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
