Student accommodation
Residencia universitaria (university residence)
A residencia universitaria is a Spanish university residence: a centre that provides accommodation and services to university students —room, meals, cleaning— without being a university institution. It may belong to the university, be affiliated to it or be private and independent, and any owner may run it.
Also known asuniversity residence · university hall · university-owned residence
What sets it apart
Since 2023 the difference from a colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme) has been written down: the colegio mayor is a university institution with a formative remit and only non-profit entities may run it; the residence provides an accommodation service and a commercial company may run it. The Statute of the University Student provides that universities may have, besides colegios mayores, "other residences for university students" (art. 66.1), and that those they found themselves may add formative, social and cultural activities if they so decide (art. 66.6).
- Founded by the university itself: admission through public, objective and transparent procedures, known sufficiently in advance (art. 66.3), and internal rules according to the university's statutes (art. 66.5).
- Affiliated to a university: that university's community-life rules reach it through affiliation, just as they reach a colegio mayor.
- Private and independent: Ley 3/2022 does not reach it; the GDPR does and, depending on the owning entity's headcount, so does Ley 2/2023.
Worth knowing
The market stretches the name. "Residencia universitaria" is also used for the newly built private buildings that investors call PBSA, whether or not they have any link with a university. The term that covers all of them, without saying anything about that link, is student residence.
Sources
Related terms
- Colegio mayorA colegio mayor is a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme, integrated into a university: it houses university students and runs cultural and scientific activities for their all-round education. The LOSU defines it as a university institution that only non-profit entities may run or promote.
- Student residenceStudent residence is the generic name for any building that houses students for the academic year with services included: a colegio mayor, a university residence or a private building run by an operator. In Spain it is a label of use and of marketing, not a legal figure of its own.
- PBSAPBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) is a student residence built or refurbished for that use and run by a private operator, with rooms or studios, shared areas and services. The term comes from the British market, and in Spain it is used mainly by investors and operators.