Thousands Protest in Spain Against Housing Crisis and Evictions

Tens of thousands of people marched in more than 50 Spanish cities on Saturday, October 3, a day after parliament rejected two emergency housing decrees meant to protect tenants. The protests, called by the Tenants' Union, follow weeks of anger over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid and leave Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government weakened, with the opposition demanding early elections.

The eviction that sparked it

On September 23, Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was removed on a stretcher from a Madrid apartment in the Retiro district where her family had lived under a rent-capped lease since the 1950s. Campaigners say the property was bought by a real estate firm in 2018, which then sought a steep rent increase of 275 percent. After a public outcry, the owners agreed to let her return at a reduced rent. Activists have been camped in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square since.

What the government proposed

The government's response was two decrees. The first would have halted evictions of vulnerable people, made speculation harder, tightened short-term rental rules and offered tax incentives to build and rent out homes. The second would have made rental contracts renew automatically when they expire, effectively making them open-ended, and required owners to pay tenants twelve months' rent to end a contract.

Why parliament said no

Both decrees were defeated in the 350-seat lower house on Friday, October 2. The Socialists and their far-left partner Sumar backed them, while the Popular Party, far-right Vox and the Catalan separatist party Junts voted against. Junts argued the measures lacked rigor and would push owners to withdraw homes from the rental market, driving prices higher. Sánchez urged lawmakers to "think about ordinary people," citing millions of young Spaniards unable to leave their parents' homes.

The scale of the problem

Average rents in Spain have nearly doubled in a decade, from about €8.20 per square meter in 2016 to roughly €15.10 in 2026, and home prices have risen by about 90 percent according to real estate data. Protesters chanted "your profits, our misery" outside parliament. In Valencia, police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

Political fallout

Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo urged Sánchez to "call elections as soon as possible," saying he lacked support in both the streets and parliament, and recent polls show the Popular Party ahead of the Socialists. The government has not announced whether it will bring a revised package, but the vote shows that housing, not just a single decree, now threatens its coalition math. Cupure will update this page as the government and parties respond.