Madrid protesters vow to maintain pressure on Sánchez government against rising cost of housing

Madrid housing protest gathers momentum after elderly tenant’s eviction

Usagevpn.com – A growing encampment in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol is turning public anger over housing costs into sustained pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government. Around 100 tents remained in the central square on Monday, two days after a large demonstration brought tens of thousands of people into the streets demanding stronger protections for tenants and action on soaring rents.

The immediate catalyst was the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for seven decades. Her removal on Wednesday, after police forced entry into her home, prompted widespread outrage and placed Spain’s housing emergency at the centre of the political debate ahead of next year’s elections.

Abascal has been hospitalised since the eviction, but in a video shared by the Madrid Tenants’ Union she urged those supporting the protest not to give up.

“I’m asking you all to be courageous, to fight, to defend what belongs to us.”

Her case has become an emblem of a wider fear shared by renters across Spain: that people who have built their lives in a neighbourhood can be displaced when rents rise beyond their means. The Tenants’ Union says a real estate company purchased Abascal’s building and increased her rent by 275%, to €2,650 a month.

Protesters call for lasting tenant protections

Many of the people sleeping in the tents at Puerta del Sol say the camp is intended to keep the housing crisis visible until politicians deliver concrete measures. Carlota, a 29-year-old protester who spent the night in the square, said the demonstration was about protecting housing as a basic right rather than treating homes primarily as financial assets.

“We are demanding that this decree-law be enacted, to protect the right to housing and prevent evictions.”

She described the situation facing tenants as severe and called for an end to prioritising capital and investment funds over residents. The square, one of Madrid’s busiest and most visited locations, has become a highly visible stage for that message, linking individual eviction cases to the broader affordability crisis.

Housing costs have climbed sharply over the past decade. Average rents nationwide had reached €15.10 per square metre in August, nearly twice the level recorded ten years earlier. The price for homebuyers stood at €2,355 per square metre, more than 50% higher than a decade before. Those figures illustrate why the debate affects not only low-income renters, but also workers, families and older people whose incomes have not kept pace with housing expenses.

Beatriz Blanco, a 37-year-old self-employed worker, said the strain was apparent within her own social circle. She described a friend whose 65-year-old mother moved in with her after no longer being able to afford a rent increase.

“It’s an utterly unsustainable situation.”

Blanco said property prices across Spain had become “completely insane” and indicated she was willing to remain at the camp for at least one more night. Her account reflects the growing concern that rent increases can force households to move away from established communities or depend on relatives for accommodation.

Sánchez faces a difficult parliamentary test

Sánchez, who has led Spain since 2018, has faced criticism from opponents and figures within his own political camp over the government’s failure to contain housing costs. He is expected to present a new housing bill on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting, and activists will be watching closely to see whether it addresses their demands.

The proposed package is expected to include automatic renewals for rental contracts and additional limits on evictions. Those measures could offer greater stability to tenants whose contracts are nearing their end, although the legislation faces an uncertain route through parliament.

The governing party does not hold a majority in Spain’s legislature, and an earlier bill with a similar purpose was defeated this year. Sánchez has appealed to other parties to support the new proposal, but the political arithmetic means that even measures backed by the government may not become law.

On Monday afternoon, Sánchez was due to visit a social housing development in Barcelona. A protest was also planned there for the evening, near the Congress Palace where he was expected to attend an awards ceremony. The demonstrations in both Madrid and Barcelona signal that campaigners want housing policy to remain a national issue, not merely a dispute limited to one city or one eviction.

Calls for open-ended contracts

Miriam Bue, spokesperson for the Spanish tenants’ union, said the government needs to send a clear response to the mobilisation. She expressed little expectation that Madrid’s regional authorities, led by the right-wing Popular Party and responsible for housing policy in the region, would provide the changes sought by protesters.

“A strong message needs to be sent.”

Bue said her organisation wants the left-wing national government to adopt open-ended rental contracts in place of the current five-year system. Supporters argue that longer-lasting contracts would make it harder for tenants to be pushed out after a fixed term, particularly in areas where rents are rising rapidly.

“Otherwise, we will step up our movement.”

For now, the tents at Puerta del Sol represent both a protest and a warning. Abascal’s eviction has given a human face to statistics showing a sharp rise in rental and purchase prices. Whether the government’s forthcoming proposal can pass parliament — and whether it satisfies the people camped in Madrid’s main square — will determine whether the movement begins to ease or expands further.