Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Spain to demand stronger protections for tenants and urgent action to tackle soaring rents and a shortage of affordable housing.
Around 50 demonstrations were held on Saturday in cities including Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, just a day after Spain’s minority government failed to secure parliamentary backing for emergency housing measures.
The protests were fueled by growing anger over rising rents, evictions and the increasing difficulty of finding affordable accommodation.
In Valencia, protesters clashed with police near the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, where a real-estate summit was taking place. Spanish media reported that some demonstrators removed barriers and threw objects at officers, who responded with rubber bullets. Nine police officers were reportedly injured and five people arrested.
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Madrid witnessed one of the largest demonstrations. Organizers claimed about 500,000 people participated, while city officials estimated the crowd at around 70,000.
Protesters carried banners including “There won’t be peace for rentism” and “I study to have a future, not to have a tiny apartment.” Others waved house keys while chanting, “We have the keys of all the city.”
The demonstrations follow nationwide anger over the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her home after she was unable to afford a substantial rent increase. The case became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis and prompted calls for lower rents, a halt to evictions and restrictions on investment funds buying residential properties.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist-led coalition government attempted to respond by introducing two emergency housing decrees in Congress on Friday.
The proposals included suspending evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, extending rental leases, increasing taxes on tourist apartments and restricting residential property purchases by so-called “vulture funds”. Another measure would have provided for the automatic renewal of rental contracts.
However, both decrees were rejected.
The first was defeated by 178 votes to 172, while the second failed by 184 votes to 166.
The defeat highlights the difficulties facing Sánchez’s minority coalition, which does not control a parliamentary majority. The conservative People’s Party and far-right Vox opposed the measures, while the centre-right, pro-independence Together for Catalonia also rejected them.
The parliamentary setback has also intensified speculation that Sánchez could face pressure to call an early general election, although the next election is not currently due until next summer.
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Spain’s housing shortage has become increasingly severe. The Bank of Spain estimates the country is short of around 700,000 homes, while official figures show house prices rose 12.2% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier.
Rental costs have also continued to climb. Real-estate platform Idealista reported an 8.5% increase in rents in 2025, with Madrid recording a 9.7% rise.
Madrid and Barcelona remain Spain’s most expensive cities for renters, with average asking rents reported at €22.70 and €23.80 per square metre, respectively.
For protesters, however, the issue goes beyond housing costs.
It has become a wider political and social battle over whether ordinary workers and young people can continue to afford to live in Spain’s major cities.
One Madrid protester, 26-year-old librarian Marcos Sainz, said he previously shared a two-bedroom apartment with friends for €900 a month, but now a one-bedroom property can cost around €1,000.
He said he would continue protesting against rent increases until authorities take action.
With housing pressure mounting and the government’s emergency measures rejected, Spain’s housing crisis is increasingly becoming a major political test for Sánchez’s fragile coalition.
