Spain housing protests grow after lawmakers reject tenant relief
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid and other Spanish cities over rising rents and evictions after parliament rejected government proposals to protect vulnerable tenants. The vote has intensified pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government, while organisers called for a general strike and further action over housing costs.
Tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday to demand affordable housing, a day after Spain’s parliament rejected measures proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government to provide greater protection for tenants. Authorities said 70,000 people took part in the Madrid demonstration, while organisers claimed the crowd numbered 500,000. Protesters marched between Plaza de Espana and Plaza de Cibeles, carrying banners opposing evictions and high rents.
A tent city has also been occupying central Madrid for about a week. The protests were triggered by the September 23 eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old pensioner who was forced to leave the Madrid flat where she had lived for more than 70 years. Housing campaigners said an investment company that acquired the property sought to raise her rent by 275 percent.
The new owners later reached an agreement allowing her to return at a low rent. The government’s proposed measures included automatic renewal of tenancy contracts and limits on evictions involving vulnerable tenants. They were rejected on Friday after the Catalan separatist party Junts voted against them, joining the opposition Popular Party and the far-right Vox party.
Junts said the proposals lacked rigour. The defeat has renewed questions over whether Sanchez’s minority government can remain in office until the next scheduled general election in 2027. Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo urged the prime minister to call an early election, saying Sanchez had the backing of neither parliament nor the streets.
Housing campaigners say rents and home prices have risen as supply has failed to keep pace with demand. Real estate website Idealista estimates that average rents have almost doubled over the past decade, while asking prices for homes have increased by about 90 percent. Valeria Racu of the Tenants’ Union said the demonstrations represented a new political energy and repeated the union’s call for a general strike.
Protesters said rising rents were forcing residents to leave Madrid.
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