After 12 years without any major footballing success, La Roja is in a major tournament final, as they prepare to square off against England on Sunday in Berlin.

Could it spell a return to the glory days of 2008 to 2012, when Spain won ‘everything’ – two Euros and one World Cup?

What’s almost certain is that if Álvaro Morata and company score enough this weekend, so will Spaniards, if you catch our drift. 

When Spain beat the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa, nine months later in April 2011 there was reportedly a 45 percent increase in births in España.

Something similar happened in 2008 after Fernando Torres helped beat Germany in the Euros that year. 

Some demographers question the figures, but the truth is that Spain could do with any extra push available, as the country’s birth rate is in the extremely low category according to the UN, together with countries such as Italy and South Korea.

Interestingly, just like two young guys from immigrant families are giving La Selección the edge at these Euros, migrant families are also responsible for keeping Spain’s ageing population afloat. 

OPINION: Young black stars mirror migrants’ contribution to Spain

In a Sigma Dos survey carried out in early 2024, 82.9 percent of respondents of a reproductive age said they were not considering having children in the next five years.

Living costs, personal and career sacrifices, family problems and a bad outlook on life in Spain were among the reasons given for not wanting to become parents.

READ ALSO: The real reasons why Spaniards don’t want to have children

With such a dire outlook, it’s likely that there will be far more Spanish babies with Yamal or Williams as a surname than Díaz or López, and regardless of what far-right Vox and their supporters think of that, it’s going to be a reality.

Just as this week’s prophetic viral photo of a young Messi bathing baby Yamal in 2007 prove, it is simply meant to be. 

From @TheAthleticFC: “Nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now — you could not have known that Messi would become who he became, either."

The story behind the photos of Lionel Messi and a baby Lamine Yamal. https://t.co/GmFqzGLMh9 pic.twitter.com/UDz2x62esh

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 9, 2024

While we’re on the subject of young people having a tough time getting their life in order, university students are definitely struggling when it comes to finding accommodation in Spain. 

READ ALSO: Two million university students in Spain fight to find a room

All they need is a room, but competition is so stiff in the current rental market that it’s no longer uncommon for them to have to pay over €500 a month for a few square metres.

According to Spain’s Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez, they’re indirectly putting extra pressure on regular rents’ availability and prices, as greedy landlords have realised that they can get far more money renting out each individual room than the whole unit to one person or family.

Therefore, as part of the series of measures that Spanish authorities keep coming up with to address the proliferation of holiday and seasonal lets and their impact on residential rents, the aim now is to get Spain’s 2 million university out of long-term rental units. 

In order to do this, the Spanish government will reportedly help public universities to provide more in-house accommodation for undergrads which is specifically for them. 

How exactly they will do this has not been announced, but if the progress of social housing as a solution to Spain’s housing crisis is anything to go on, it will be slow.

Rodríguez mainly pointed the finger at private universities, of which there are more than ever in Spain (27 new ones in the last 25 years compared to no new public ones).

“Their presence has put pressure on some rental markets where they are based,” the minister argued, adding that they should also make sure to provide lodgings to their students rather than let them “occupy” the cities.