Zaragoza housing camp expands past 80 tents as Congress rejects federal decrees

Encampment in Plaza de España

About 100 people spent the night in Zaragoza's Plaza de España following a mobilization call issued by the Sindicato de Inquilinas de Zaragoza on Thursday evening. The assembly followed a pot-banging protest at 21:00 on 1 October, prompting activists to set up more than 60 tents within two hours. By Friday morning, the camp expanded to over 80 tents in the city center. Protesters reported a quiet overnight period with no reported incidents, maintaining communal supplies of food and water while occupying the central square. Spokesperson Paula Ríos explained that participants organized to confront rising living expenses and insufficient wages.

Spokesperson Paula Ríos highlighted the determination of those gathered in the square.

Only our strength is going to be able to change things.

Municipal ordinance and political friction

The encampment coincided with the entry into force of Zaragoza's new civic ordinance on Friday, 2 October. Approved on 3 September by the People's Party, Vox, and an unaffiliated councillor, and published in the provincial gazette on 10 September, the text introduces penalties for unauthorized public space usage. The strictest provision, Article 13.3, classifies sleeping in public spaces or blocking habitual public use as a very serious infraction carrying fines between 1,501 and 3,000 euros. Secondary rules penalize prolonged occupation with tents or mattresses at 50 to 750 euros, while general street camping incurs 50 to 250 euros. When infractions overlap, the ordinance mandates applying the most severe penalty.

Zaragoza Mayor Natalia Chueca characterized the camp as a public order problem and accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of encouraging street disruption. Chueca described the nationwide demonstrations as a distraction maneuver from central government challenges, citing migration issues in Ceuta and governance disputes, while questioning whether general elections should be called. Municipal authorities stated that they are treating the camp as a public order matter without immediately issuing fines against the occupants.

Parliamentary defeat of housing measures

The local mobilization developed as the Congress of Deputies debated two royal decree-laws on housing. The legislation covered rent limitations, eviction procedures, property purchases, vulture fund regulations, and fiscal incentives for affordable housing. Both decree-laws were voted down in the lower house on Friday following opposition from parliamentary groups including Junts. Activists in the square followed the voting outcomes closely, having already characterized the proposed legislation as incomplete compromises that failed to resolve structural rent burdens or stop evictions.

Strategy shift in Madrid and upcoming mobilizations

Zaragoza joined a protest wave that previously established camps in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Málaga, Cádiz, Santiago de Compostela, and Sevilla. In Madrid, where demonstrators occupied Puerta del Sol starting on 27 September, the local tenant union announced it will dismantle its central camp on Saturday, 3 October. The Madrid organization plans to redirect its resources into residential blocks and neighborhood groups with the aim of preparing a general strike.

In Zaragoza, organizers announced that their encampment will continue through a demonstration scheduled for Saturday at 18:00. The march will depart from Plaza de Santo Domingo, the former site of the evicted Luis Buñuel community center, under the slogan opposing housing commercialization. Organizers confirmed that the demonstration will demand immediate rent freezes from local, regional, and national authorities.