Battered by economic downturn and contemplating even worse times ahead, Spain’s beleaguered parents now have one more thing to worry about: the return of their adult children.

A new study shows that up to a quarter of Spanish youngsters (defined as below 35 years of age) who have managed to leave their parents during the past two years have already returned or are planning to do so in the coming months.

Jaime Chapatte, the president of the Youth Council of Madrid, which conducted the study, said: “Young people who cannot meet the expense of having a flat are being forced to return to their parents’ home.”

Even by Mediterranean standards, young Spaniards are notoriously reluctant to fly the family nest. A recent study found that nearly 60 per cent of Spanish people between the ages of 18 and 34 still live with their parents. More than a quarter were still living in the parental home after the age of 30.

Previous studies have also shown that around half of those who do manage to leave home still need financial support from their parents.

Spain’s Student Union said that the “mass return” to the parental home had got under way in the second quarter of this year. It said it expected the return to continue picking up steam.

The country’s trade union federation, CCOO, said that young people were usually employed under temporary contracts, making them the first to lose their jobs.“When the crisis appears, the first to fall are the temporary contracts, and young people suffer these contracts more than anybody else,” a spokesman said.

The latest study found that the main causes of return to the family fold were temporary contracts (35 per cent); unemployment (13 per cent); and low salaries, which it says average some €18,000 (£14,500) a year for those aged under 35.

Young people are not the only ones being forced to live in less than ideal circumstances. Divorced couples are finding themselves having to live together because they cannot sell their homes. Isidro Niñerola, a divorce lawyer, told the newspaper 20minutos: “Before, homes were sold almost immediately or an agreement was reached for one of the two parties to keep it. Now there’s an indefinite delay.” The problem in selling homes was creating a “serious and anxious situation” for estranged couples.

In many cases, one of the partners had to take the same option as youngsters and return to live with their parents. But the online divorce site Separacionline.com says that around 5 per cent of divorced couples opt to remain under the same roof.

Alberto Rubio, a director of Separacionline.com, said: “Needless to say, it is not normal for two people who get divorced to keep on living together. But for several months now we have noticed that a significant part of our clients wishes to do so.”

After 16 years of credit-fuelled economic growth, Spain’s economy is teetering on the brink of recession. House prices, which tripled in the decade to 2007, are falling. Unemployment is rising at the fastest rate in more than 15 years and banks have virtually ceased all lending.

In a sign of the times, the Spanish television channel La Sexta is seeking participants for a new reality show fea-turing parents who desperately want their children to leave home. The winning youngsters will get the chance to live together in a shared flat.

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