Housing protests spread across Spain after parliament rejects tenant measures
Tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities after opposition parties rejected government proposals aimed at protecting vulnerable tenants. Protesters are demanding affordable housing as rents rise, while the parliamentary defeat has intensified pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government and revived questions about its ability to last until 2027.
Tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday to demand affordable housing, one day after lawmakers rejected proposed relief measures for tenants. The protests followed weeks of anger after the forced eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid flat on September 23. Her case became a focus for housing campaigners.
The new owners later agreed that she could return at a lower rent, according to the source material. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government had proposed automatic renewal of tenancy contracts and restrictions on evicting vulnerable tenants. The measures were defeated in parliament on Friday after the Catalan separatist party Junts voted against them alongside the opposition Popular Party and Vox.
Authorities estimated that 70,000 people joined the Madrid demonstration, while organisers claimed the figure was 500,000. Hundreds of protesters have also occupied a tent city in the capital, where they have called for changes to housing policy. Protesters described rising rents as incompatible with stable lives.
Marcos Sainz, a librarian, said a two-bedroom apartment that once cost him and friends 900 euros a month now compared with one-bedroom flats costing about 1,000 euros. Solar-panel installer Javier said he spent half his salary on a small room. Valeria Racu of the Tenants’ Union said the demonstrations represented a new political energy and repeated the union’s call for a general strike.
The protests have also created a political problem for Sanchez, whose minority government depends on support from parties including Junts. Housing has been a major concern in Spain as supply falls short of demand. The source material says average rents have nearly doubled over the past decade and asking prices for homes have risen by about 90%, citing the real-estate website Idealista.
Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo urged Sanchez to call elections, saying the government had support from neither parliament nor the streets.
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