Parliament Votes Down Housing Decrees
In Spain, rightwing legislators banded together to strike down urgent housing measures, leaving a divided congress at odds with a widening wave of demonstrations. The conservative People's party, the far-right Vox and the Catalan pro-independence group Junts all opposed a set of decrees from Pedro Sánchez's Socialist-led coalition. Those decrees would have barred evictions through 2030 and set rules for short-term and room-by-room rentals. While the vote unfolded, demonstrators gathered outside Madrid's parliament building carrying homemade placards depicting vultures.[S1]
The People's party defended its decision by arguing that building more homes, rather than regulating the market, is the best solution. Lawmaker Juan Bravo stated that housing does not become more affordable through decrees but through increased construction. The rejection was met with boos from the crowd outside, where protesters chanted about profits and misery. The vote underscores deep divisions over how to tackle a crisis that has seen rents climb 80% within a decade and home prices rise by 63%.[S1]
Eviction Sparks National Outrage
Outrage over steep housing costs reached a breaking point late last month, when Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old wheelchair user, was forced out of the residence she had occupied for seven decades. She explained that she could not cover the 230% rent hike sought by the investment fund that had acquired her flat. Her removal proved decisive for many people, sparking demonstrations that carried on even after the fund consented to let her move back in at a rent nearer her earlier level.[S1]
The coalition's decrees were meant to ease public fury, yet voting them down has instead energized activists. The Confederation of Tenants' Unions pledged to keep pressing for improved housing access, urging greater organizing and mobilization, and named a general strike as its following move. It called on residents nationwide to fill the streets this weekend. The demonstrations have come to dominate national debate, reinvigorating Sánchez's administration and pulling focus from recent developments in Ceuta.[S1]
Protest Encampment Expands in Madrid
Saturday will bring the one-week mark since a handful of demonstrators pitched 10 tents in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, a brief stroll from parliament. The encampment has since expanded past 1,500 tents, becoming a peaceful settlement at the capital's core complete with named streets, a medical post and even a shared workspace. When word of the vote arrived at the camp on Friday, protester Marta García described people as let down, since they had expected at least one decree to pass.[S1]
One survey indicated that two-thirds of Spaniards back government action to cap housing prices. Sources informed the outlet Eldiario.es that the Socialists were weighing whether to move next year's election forward, possibly to this November. On Thursday night, once it emerged that various rightwing parties intended to oppose the measures, Sánchez confirmed the parliamentary vote would go ahead. He said the ballot would expose the rightwing parties' real nature, casting the decision as siding either with the social majority or with speculators.[S1]
