Protesters across Spain demand action over housing crisis

Protests are taking place throughout Spain calling for greater protections for tenants after the administration failed to obtain emergency housing legislation through parliament on Friday.

Key points

• MPs rejected the first decree by 178 votes to 172 and voted against the second by 184 to 166.
• It remarked Barcelona and Madrid were Spain's most expensive cities to rent a home, at €23.80 per square metre and €22.70 per square metre respectively.
• The Bank of Spain estimates the country is short of 700, 000 homes, based on the gap between demand and new construction.
• House rates have risen by 12.2% previously year, according to figures for the second quarter of 2026 from national statistics institute INE.
• Regarding 50 planned marches were anticipated to take place in cities such as Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona on Saturday – with some already under way.

"There is a lot of anger in the streets, " remarked a spokesperson for the Valencia Tenants' Union, where a demonstration has already kicked off.

Meanwhile, the measures proposed by Pedro Sánchez's leftist coalition administration on Friday followed public outcry over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home last month after she was unable to afford a sharp rent rise.

Her eviction triggered nationwide protests throughout Spain with protesters demanding lower rents, an end to evictions, and a ban on investment funds – or "vulture funds" as the administration has termed them – buying property.

Sanchez's defeat in congress on Friday heightens speculation that he might call an early general election. It was not due until next summer.

His coalition administration, produced up of his ruling Socialist party and junior partner the Sumar alliance, does not command a majority in parliament.

Spanish PM Sánchez loses key housing crisis vote after eviction of woman, 87.

For context, the biggest demonstration in Spain on Saturday is due to take place in the capital Madrid. Demonstrators have been camping in one of the city's main squares, Puerta del Sol, for days.

One protester, David, informed Spanish public broadcaster RTVE: "We're not here for pleasure or comfort. We're here out of conviction."

On Friday night, the Madrid's Tenants' Union remarked that although the government's proposed measures were insufficient, the rejection of the proposed legislation "exacerbates the housing crisis which is costing the working class their lives". It is calling for a general strike over the housing crisis.

In practice, the legislation proposed in Congress on Friday was divided into two separate decrees.

Meanwhile, the first 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 so-called "vulture funds".

In practice, the second decree included the automatic renewal of rental contracts, a major demand of plenty of on the left and the Tenant's Union.

Prior to the vote, the conservative People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox had already remarked they would vote against both initiatives, leaving the minority administration depending on the backing of smaller nationalist parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country.

Nevertheless, by the eve of the parliamentary session, the centre-right, pro-independence Together for Catalonia (JxCat) had signalled its opposition to both laws, condemning them to failure.

Sánchez's ruling coalition hurriedly drew up the decree laws in a bid to defuse the housing protests that were sparked when 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted in September.

Notably, the social backlash led to the firm that owns Abascal's flat, Urbagestión, negotiating her return to the flat on a low rent. Nevertheless, protests have continued. Dramatic eviction of woman aged 87 highlights Spain's housing shortage.

In practice, the Bank of Spain estimates the country is short of 700, 000 homes, based on the gap between demand and new construction.

Meanwhile, the shortage in rental housing means that costs rose by 8.5% in 2025, according to real estate firm Idealista, with Madrid alone seeing an growth of 9.7% in rents.

For now, protesters across Spain demand action over housing crisis remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.