Tens of thousands march across Spain for housing rights following rejected decrees
Protesters demonstrated in up to 50 Spanish cities on Saturday to demand rent controls and call for a general strike after the Congress of Deputies rejected two housing decree laws.
Demonstrations across Spanish cities
Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Spain on Saturday following the parliamentary rejection of two housing decree laws. The largest demonstration took place in Madrid, where attendance was reported at 70,000 by the government delegation and 500,000 by the organizers. The Tenant Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas) coordinated actions in up to 50 cities, including Valencia, A Coruña, Vigo, Lugo, and Santiago de Compostela. In Vigo, approximately 5,000 people marched from the intersection of Vía Norte and Urzáiz to Porta do Sol chanting for housing over city lights. Demonstrators throughout the country rallied under slogans against rentierism and pushed for a nationwide general strike.
- Government Delegation
- 70000 people
- Sindicato de Inquilinas
- 500000 people
Political defeat in Congress
The widespread mobilization followed Friday's vote in the Congress of Deputies, where lawmakers repealed two housing decree laws submitted by the Council of Ministers. The rejected decrees contained protections prohibiting evictions of vulnerable tenants and mandating the extension of residential rental contracts expiring in 2026. The legislation failed after members of the People's Party (PP), Vox, and Junts voted against both measures. Tenant representatives stated that parliament had failed to address rental costs that consume up to 70% of young workers' wages.
We are facing a Congress incapable of passing bold measures for the lives of tenants because it is hijacked by rentierism.
Expansion of tent encampments
Protest camps in Madrid expanded on Saturday, reaching past the central Puerta del Sol where more than 1,000 tents have remained for a week. The camp, which originated after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman named Maricarmen from her home in Retiro after seven decades, grew into surrounding lateral streets including Calle Preciados and Calle Arenal despite morning rain. In Valencia, protesters established an autonomous camp of roughly 15 tents in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento following a march to the Palau de les Arts, where the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026 was underway. Clashes outside the venue resulted in nine National Police officers injured and at least five arrests. Similar indefinite camps and assemblies formed in Galicia, including at Santiago's Plaza del Obradoiro.
- Puerta del Sol encampment begins following the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen
- Congress of Deputies rejects two government housing decree laws
- Protests occur across 50 cities and new tent camps form in Valencia and Galicia
Security tensions and union demands
Tensions escalated in central Madrid when approximately 100 members of far-right and neo-Nazi groups, including Núcleo Nacional and Democracia Nacional, gathered near Cibeles under police escort. Activists inside the Puerta del Sol camp organized a volunteer security cordon to prevent the groups from entering the square, allowing their daily general assembly to proceed. Tenant unions have presented demands including indefinite lease contracts, mandatory rent cuts, suspension of all evictions, and the expropriation of housing units held by speculative funds. Organizers have scheduled further demonstrations, including a rally in Pontevedra on Monday, as they coordinate with labor unions to prepare a general strike.
