Nearly 500,000 people protest in Madrid over Spain's housing crisis

Demonstrators are marching in several Spanish cities on Saturday, a day after parliament votes down two government decrees aimed at giving tenants stronger protection.

In Madrid, according to the organisers, around 500,000 people took part in the demonstrations, while the authorities put the number at around 70,000. Activists have been camped for about a week in Puerta del Sol, one of the capital’s main tourist squares.

Participants are carrying placards reading “General strike” and chanting slogans such as “Down with rentierism”.

The protest remains peaceful, under a visible police presence. The president of the employers’ confederation CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, says he respects the protests but warns that he will take action if a general strike is called, as he considers it “illegal”.

The Tenants’ Union, which is coordinating the protests, says in a statement: “There is an irreparable disconnect between what the people want and what the parties vote for.”

The Tenants’ Union is demanding a 50% cut in rents, open-ended contracts and the expropriation of homes from vulture funds. Its spokesperson, Valeria Racu, says there is still no date for the general strike, which is being negotiated with other organisations and which they want to be “historic”.

Tensions in Valencia and protests across the rest of the country

In Valencia, protesters are marching towards the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, where the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026 property investment conference is taking place, with former Cs leader Albert Rivera among the speakers.

Some protesters removed barriers and the police cordon and threw objects at officers. Police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. Several people managed to reach the upper part of the building. The march had been called by four organisations, including the Tenants’ Union and the Housing Union.

There were also demonstrations in many other cities. In Donostia, the protest entered its second consecutive day, called by the LAB union with the backing of the Tenants’ Union. In Cádiz, where according to organisers the average rent is about 900 euros and buying a home reaches 200,000, the march ended at City Hall with the reading of a manifesto.

There were also marches in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with further rallies in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Tenerife. In Barcelona, Luana Rocha, a member of the camp, told ‘TVE’ that the intention is to stay indefinitely: “We are heading towards a general strike”. Teruel will join in on Sunday with a demonstration at 18:30 starting from Plaza del Torico.

Sánchez and his period of reflection as parties trade blame

On Friday, Congress rejects the government’s two housing decrees, with votes against from PP, Vox and UPN and Junts refusing to support them. The first falls by 172 votes in favour to 178 against, and the second by 166 in favour to 184 against.

Sánchez ends his speech with a warning: “History will judge you sooner than you think and more harshly than you imagine”. He now opens a period of reflection on calling early elections, a decision that rests solely with him. The opposition is again calling for elections, and some PSOE leaders and ministers now think so too, according to the original report.

Junts urges the PSOE to sit down and negotiate. Its spokesperson, Míriam Nogueras, describes the decrees as “a poorly drafted law”, and its secretary general, Jordi Turull, argues that they would have “discouraged” property sales. The PSOE replies that the texts already include Junts’ proposals: “What more do they want?”

Vice-president Yolanda Díaz insists that evictions “have three names”: Feijóo, Abascal and Nogueras. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for his part, pledges to look for a legal formula so that there is no further term without a budget.

Meanwhile, the camp in Sol reaches its seventh night, with around 2,000 people, and the original cause remains in full view.

The protest begins after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman who was carried out on a stretcher and is now recovering in hospital.

Housing campaigners say an investment company has bought the property where she lived for around seven decades and sought to raise her rent by 275 percent. After the backlash, the new owners agree to let her return at a low rent.

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