Spain's parliament rejects housing decree-laws as youth protests and tent camps expand

Parliamentary defeat in Madrid

Spanish lawmakers in Madrid voted on Friday to reject two government decree-laws intended to curb rising housing costs across the country. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez delivered an unscheduled address from the congressional podium prior to the vote, asking deputies to set aside electoral calculations, demonstrate courage, and back the measures. The executive's proposals, presented on Tuesday, included provisions for the automatic renewal of residential leases upon expiration. However, conservative and far-right parties opposed the bills alongside the Catalan pro-independence party Junts, which had provided the parliamentary votes for Sánchez's investiture in 2023. Junts requested that the government withdraw the decrees to draft alternatives, but ministers proceeded to the vote. Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy condemned the opposition parties immediately after the ballots were counted.

They will pay for it at the ballot box.

Protests spread across Spanish cities

The defeat of the decrees sparked immediate protests directly outside the Congress of Deputies, where gathered activists shouted in anger and called for a general strike. Demonstrators have camped in Madrid's Puerta del Sol since 26 September, while a parallel tent camp formed in Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya. Public unrest grew following the 23 September eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her home in Madrid. Activists, including 26-year-old David Llamas who continues to live with his parents due to high rental costs, pledged to continue mobilizing. Housing associations have organized nationwide demonstrations across Spain scheduled for Saturday.

Ten years of diverging prices and wages

Data compiled by the newspaper El País reveals that average residential purchase prices in Spain grew by 80% between 2015 and 2025, while rents climbed by 85%. Over that same decade, Spanish wages increased by only 30%, creating severe affordability constraints in urban centers. In Madrid, property prices nearly doubled over the ten-year period, driven in part by a 7% national population increase linked to immigration. Tourism accelerated pressure on available residential stock, with overnight tourist stays in Malaga, Alicante, and Las Palmas more than doubling between 2018 and 2025. In September, the deputy governor of the Bank of Spain warned that the country faces a shortfall of 1 million homes by 2028, estimating that closing the gap would require more than a decade at current construction rates.

The rental squeeze on Spanish youth

Young Spaniards leave their parental home at an average age of 30, roughly four years later than the European Union average. Microdata from the Living Conditions Survey conducted by the National Statistics Institute indicates that independent adults in their twenties live in households with annual earnings above 27,000 euros, typically relying on shared expenses with partners or flatmates. Property portal Idealista recorded a rental price surge of nearly 90% over the last decade. A study by Álvaro Pinto and José Ignacio Conde-Ruiz for the Fedea research center found that despite improvements in monetary poverty indicators and reduced inequality, housing expenses drive negative public perceptions of economic conditions. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez outlined the pressure facing tenants during an appearance on RTVE.

There are many people at the moment trapped in rental situations, devoting 50, 60, or 70% of their income to it. This effort needs to be reduced.