Thousands of people protest in Spain over housing crisis

Thousands of people demonstrated in dozens of Spanish cities on Saturday demanding protection for renters. A day earlier, the Spanish parliament voted against government decisions on this topic, including a moratorium on evictions for non-payment.

Demonstrations took place in five dozen cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

In Valencia, clashes occurred between demonstrators and police. According to Spanish press reports, demonstrators threw various objects at police, who responded with rubber bullets.

Spain's left-wing coalition government, led by socialist Pedro Sánchez, passed two emergency decrees early last week to protect tenants, responding to mass protests over the September eviction of an 87-year-old woman who could not pay skyrocketing rent.

The decrees, in particular, provided for a ban on evictions until 2030.

The government explains its decision by the desire to protect tenants, as well as to limit the activities of investment funds that buy housing - government members call them “vulture funds.”

However, Sanchez's government does not have a majority in parliament, which did not approve emergency decrees on Friday. Oppositionists from right-wing parties said that this is an attack on the rights of homeowners, primarily ordinary citizens renting out their apartments.

After this defeat in Spain, talk began with renewed vigor that Sanchez might announce early elections. The next ones should take place next summer.

One of the largest demonstrations took place in the capital of Spain. Its organizer, the Tenants' Union, said that 500 thousand people took to the streets of Madrid. According to government estimates, there were about 70 thousand.

At the same time, on one of the main squares of Madrid, Puerta del Sol, a tent camp of protesters has been set up for several days.

“We are not here for our own pleasure, we are here because of our beliefs,” one of those protesters, named David, told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.

The Madrid Tenants' Union called for a general strike.

According to the Bank of Spain, the pace of housing construction is far behind demand, and as a result, the country lacks about 700 thousand apartments and houses.

Last year, home prices rose 12.2%. The shortage of rental housing led to the fact that in the same 2025, prices for rental housing increased in Spain as a whole by 8.5%, and in Madrid by 9.7%. These are the data from the real estate site Idealista.

In Barcelona and Madrid, renting a house costs on average about 23-24 euros per square meter.