Housing Protests to Hit Spain

Housing activists will stage new demonstrations across Spain on Saturday, a day after parliament rejected two government measures to strengthen protections for tenants.

The protests will take place in Madrid and more than 50 other cities, according to the Tenants’ Union, which has been coordinating the demonstrations.

The measures were proposed following nationwide anger over the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid apartment, where she had lived for about 70 years. She was reportedly removed from the property on a stretcher.

The parliamentary defeat represents another setback for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and has renewed questions about whether his minority government can remain in office until the next general election, scheduled for 2027.

Catalan separatist party Junts, whose support was needed for the measures to pass, voted against the decrees, arguing that they lacked sufficient rigour.

Following the vote, Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called on Sánchez to hold an early election, arguing that the prime minister no longer had sufficient backing from either the public or parliament.

Recent opinion polls have generally placed the opposition Popular Party ahead of Sánchez’s Socialists.

The Tenants’ Union said the parliamentary vote had widened the gap between public demands and political decisions, accusing parties of failing to reflect the concerns of people struggling with housing costs.

“There is an irreparable disconnect between what the people want and what the parties vote for,” it said in a statement.

In Madrid, activists and demonstrators have occupied parts of Puerta del Sol, one of the capital’s main tourist squares, for about a week.

Demonstrators are expected to begin marches from several points across the city at noon before converging on Plaza de Cibeles in central Madrid.

The rejected measures included automatic renewal of rental contracts when they expire and provisions intended to prevent the eviction of vulnerable tenants.

The package also targeted so-called vulture funds, investment firms that acquire properties at low prices in pursuit of higher returns.

Housing has remained a major concern in Spain as a shortage of supply continues to push up rents and property prices, mirroring pressures seen across much of the European Union.

According to real estate website Idealista, average rents in Spain have nearly doubled over the past decade, while asking prices for homes have increased by about 90 per cent.

Abascal’s eviction became a focal point for the growing anger over housing costs. Housing campaigners said she was forced to leave her long-term Madrid home after an investment company acquired the property and sought to increase her rent by 275 per cent.

The public backlash eventually led the new owners to reach an agreement allowing Abascal to return to the apartment at a lower rent.