Spain housing crisis protests 2026

Fewer than half a million new homes were built in Spain between 2021 and 2025.

Pierina Nicuray, a 21-year-old university graduate, spent a week camped out in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square protesting Spain's housing crisis.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was legislating against those who consider housing just another object on the market with which to speculate.

Protesters near parliament chanted 'Maricarmen lives. The fight goes on!'

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Abascal a symbol of renters struggling with Spain's affordability crisis.

Spain's average rent has almost doubled in a decade.

Rents in Spain have gone up 80% in the last 10 years while salaries have not kept up, according to journalist María Carrión.

The investment fund bought Maricarmen's apartment at a low cost because it was rent-controlled, then sought to legally expel her.

Maricarmen lived in her Madrid apartment for over 70 years.

Abascal was evicted from her Madrid apartment on September 23.

A CIS survey found that 76.3 percent of Spaniards supported intervention in the market to guarantee access to housing.

Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo said addressing the housing crisis would require greater commitment from all levels of government.

Thousands of people have been camping in Puerta del Sol since Abascal's eviction to demand more affordable housing.

Opposition People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo sent condolences to Maricarmen Abascal's loved ones.

Maricarmen Abascal's father first rented the property in 1956.

Maricarmen had lived in her apartment for seven decades and was hospitalized after being carried out on a stretcher.

Polls suggest Feijoo will not win an outright majority and would need support from Vox to govern.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered condolences on X following Maricarmen's death.

Housing is the biggest concern for Spaniards according to polls.

Polls show that the Socialists are trailing the PP.

More than 70,000 migrants arrived in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in July.

Tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco without authorization in July.

The first housing decree included the suspension of evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, a two-year extension to rental leases due to expire before 2028, tax increases for tourist apartments, and a restriction on the purchase of residential properties by investment firms.

An 87-year-old woman named Maricarmen Abascal was forcibly evicted from her Madrid home on September 23 after a legal glitch allowed her landlord to sharply raise her rent.

Tenants' Union spokesperson Valeria Racu said Saturday's rallies revealed a new energy showing that eight days of people's power can achieve more than eight years of progressive government.

The investment fund that bought Abascal's building hiked her rent by more than 200 percent to roughly $1,880 a month.

El Diario reported that elections could take place as early as November 29.

The right-wing Catalan separatist party Junts voted against the housing decrees, arguing they would tighten the housing market.

Spanish media reported that Sanchez would watch the strength of Saturday's protests before making a decision.

PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo urged Sanchez to call elections as soon as possible.

Tens of thousands of people protested across Spain calling for greater protections for tenants after the government failed to pass emergency housing legislation.

Sánchez's coalition government does not command a majority in parliament.

The conservative People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox voted against both initiatives.

Demonstrators had been camping in Puerta del Sol in Madrid for days.

Clashes took place between protesters and police in Valencia.

The Bank of Spain estimates the country is short of 700,000 homes.

Hundreds of protesters across Spain took part in pot banging demonstrations.

The protesters demanded political action over soaring rents, evictions and the shortage of affordable housing.

The protests took place ahead of a parliamentary vote on Friday on measures to strengthen tenant protections.

The government's defeat heightened speculation that Sanchez might call an early general election.

MPs rejected the first decree by 178 votes to 172 and the second by 184 to 166.

The Sindicato de Inquilinas (Tenants' Union) announced during the congressional debate that it was abandoning the tent protest in central Madrid.

An 87-year-old woman was forcibly evicted from her home on Wednesday.

Thousands of protesters marched through Madrid demanding solutions to the city's housing crisis.

The eviction of the 87-year-old woman renewed public anger and calls for the government to act.