One in four young Spaniards feels alone frequently and up to 87.5% of people between the ages of 15 and 29 have felt this way at some point. These are data from the latest Youth, Health and Well-being Barometer prepared by Fad Juventud at the state level. In Galicia the figures do not differ much. According to SoledadES’ Undesirable Loneliness Barometer 2024, 35.5% of young Galicians between 18 and 34 years old feel lonely.
Anna Sanmartín, research director at Fad Juventud, indicates that they included this question for the first time in their reports on health and well-being in 2023 and, in the last edition of 2025, they detected a slight increase of almost 6 points among those who have already felt alone.
Regardless, the researcher focuses on 26.5% who say they suffer from it frequently.
“Current culture does not help us feel supported. The context influences,” he underlines after recalling the impact that the 2020 pandemic had on different aspects of health.
Laura López-Romero, researcher from the Underisk group at the University of Santiago, agrees with her, recalling the mark that the pandemic has left on adolescents and young people, who saw at a very important vital moment how the possibilities of socialization were “totally interrupted”.
At the moment, USC does not have data on this subject, but it does have the ELISA projectstarted in 2017 and which addresses the emotional difficulties of girls and boys. In his initial findings, he explains that during the pandemic there has been an increase in feelings of sadness, anxiety or fear, at a stage where “the feeling of belonging to a group takes on considerable importance”.
When it comes to young people, López-Romero adds an additional ingredient to all this: structural problems. As an example, he cites the housing problem, while three out of four young Galicians under 30 live with their parents and those who move elsewhere have difficulty finding accommodation.
“The stress that this can generate limits in terms of socialization,” he explains, highlighting two aspects: an economic one, having fewer resources to socialize if he pays rent, and a social one, having to live with stress due to difficulties in accessing housing and the distance from a support network.
“We are living in a unique historical moment with social, structural, economic and technological changes and all of this acts as a breeding ground favoring this perception of solitude,” he summarizes.
Being alone or feeling alone
“When we talk about loneliness, we have to talk about loneliness in the plural”, emphasizes the researcher from Fad Juventud, who indicates that “there are people who need more network, others who feel emotionally alone and need a partner and there will be those who feel alone because their life has no meaning. This does not only have to do with family or friends, but with an increasingly individualistic society. This disconnects us because we are social beings.
For this reason, Sanmartín invites “rethink the type of society we promote“.
From the University of Vigosociology professor José Durán qualifies the data presented in the studies. “One thing is the perception of loneliness and another thing is being alone. We don’t know exactly What does this feeling of loneliness mean for people?“, he emphasizes to explain the different data between generations.
According to the SoledadES report, in Galicia, 19.9% of people over 55 suffer from loneliness, compared to 35.5% of young people.
Durán explains that “young people experience more unstable situations in their lives and at this stage emotions are much more present. On the other hand, middle-aged people do not experience such unstable situations and therefore do not have this increased perception of loneliness.”
“In Galicia, 19.9% of people over 55 suffer from loneliness compared to 35.5% of young people”
To all this, Sanmartín adds that “today there are fewer elements where presence mediates relationships. We do a lot more things individually and today’s culture contributes to weakening many of the connections that would allow us to feel more supported or have more opportunities to connect.
“Undesirable loneliness is not only linked to the number of contacts, but to their quality,” he continues, emphasizing that “between young people and adolescents are very demanding when it comes to friendship. “The need for presence and the importance of the peer group at these ages is particularly striking.”
And in the middle of all this, “the question of screens“.
More connected, but less bound
The experts consulted agree to highlight a current period of more connection, but weaker personal ties. This is the hyperconnection paradoxin a context where people have more technology to connect with each other, but the connections made are shorter and more superficial.
“The feeling of inner solitude sometimes ends up transforming into real isolation”
At USC, Laura López-Romero recognizes that social networks can be an ally when it comes to maintaining connections, but the flip side is the lack of real interactions with brief connections that do not allow the development of social skills. Another tool is now joining the networks: artificial intelligence.
Although it is still early to know its impact, many people do it. use chatbots as confidants. “These are quick but superficial communications, where there is not much emotional exchange or sense of belonging. We have not yet understood their impact,” he says.
For his part, since mental health program Let’s be realistic of the University of Coruña, its director Valentín Escudero explains that “it is a hyperconnected world with people who feel disconnected. the feeling of inner loneliness sometimes ends up transforming into real isolation and leads to mental health problems.
At the UDC, this service has existed since 2021, when it was created following the pandemic, offering up to six sessions with a team of specialized psychologists. Since then, they have welcomed on average around a hundred people from the university community per year, 94% of whom are students. Among the issues addressed, there are many cases of severe anxiety attacks or toxic relationships, but cases of loneliness are also common.
During these five years, Escudero was able to distinguish two types: one in people who already have relationship difficulties and another more common one that binds a “crisis” of age among young people which is given by a vital moment of changes, adaptations and identity construction.
“Loneliness is a phenomenon of the human condition,” he recalls, emphasizing that over the centuries, it has been a recurring theme in societies and culture. For this reason, and because “the human brain without another brain is useless”, he is not alarmed by cases of loneliness, even if he emphasizes that we must return to more in-person activities.
López-Romero also suggests “returning to in-person participation.” And, when using social media, be on it in an “active” way to connect with people and not in a “passive” way by just looking at the screen. »the perfect, idealized lives of others that make us feel like nothing is enough in our own“.
Courses pending
Despite the data, Valentín Escudero is optimistic. The UDC believes that “it always takes one or two generations to learn to assimilate a change like the impact of the technological movement on society”. This is why he highlights actions which already aim for a more controlled use of screens and social networks in a transversal manner, such as This happened in previous generations with the abuse of television.
“We must learn to make a use of technology that does not replace personal contact“, he emphasizes.
Anna Sanmartín of Fad Juventud expresses the same meaning: “We will have to continue working on media education digital so that the young people who use it understand that it is a resource and to what extent we can ask them.
And from institutions, adds Laura López-Romero, “we can develop prevention programs and strategies so that young people reach adolescence with more resources, more trust, and more ability to build meaningful relationships“.
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