There are now more than three million Spaniards living in poverty, as defined by a monthly income of under 307 euros, according to a report by the charity Cáritas.
The report shows that the percentage of the population now living below the poverty line has almost doubled in the past five years from 3.5% in 2007 to 6.4% in 2012.
According to Cáritas, the poverty rate in Spain has increased from 19.7% in 2007 to 21.1% last year. In addition, it states that the official threshold for the definition of poverty for a family of four was reduced from 15,900 euros a year per household to 14,700 in 2012, a decrease that resulted in many pensioners who were previously regarded as living below the poverty line being no longer classified as such.
The number of people who attended Cáritas help centres increased from 370,251 in 2007 to 1.3 million in 2012.
The report comes hot on the heels of another report by Credit Suisse which shows that the number of millionaires in Spain rose by 13% to 402,000 between mid-2012 and the middle of 2013.