Spain housing protests erupt in 50-plus cities after Congress rejects rent decrees

Protesters took to the streets in more than 50 Spanish cities on Saturday in a new wave of housing demonstrations, a day after Congress rejected the government’s two housing decrees — escalating a confrontation between tenant unions and lawmakers over Spain’s deepening affordability crisis.

In Valencia, thousands marched from the Porta de la Mar at 11am, jingling keys — a gesture that has become a symbol of the movement — as the head of the march moved toward the Palau de les Arts, where the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026 was being held on the same day. The protest was called by Entrebarris, the Housing Union of Valencia, the Tenants’ Union and the PAH, with support from other social and union organisations including CCOO of the Valencian Community, which said housing should be treated “a right, not a business”.

RTVE counted at least 47 separate calls for Saturday, with marches in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga, Palma, Zaragoza and Valladolid among others, part of a mobilisation window running from October 2 to 5. The demonstrators denounced “impossible” rents, evictions and the spread of tourist and temporary housing, demanding rent reductions, eviction bans, stable rental contracts, more public housing and action against vacant and speculative properties.

The wave follows Congress’s Friday rejection of the two government housing decrees, which collapsed protections the movements said were already insufficient. The Confederation of Tenants’ Unions warned those who voted them down would face political consequences, saying in a statement carried by EFE: “We are going to make those who turn their backs on the people have to leave their seats in Parliament.”

The protests have been galvanised by the case of Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Madrid woman evicted on September 23 from the apartment she had lived in for 70 years, who was later taken to hospital. Under the slogan “Not one more Maricarmen”, last Saturday’s Madrid march drew around 25,000 people according to the Government Delegation — 300,000 according to organisers — and tents remain in Puerta del Sol.

At that rally, spokesperson Alicia del Río of the Madrid Tenants’ Union called the case a “point of no return” and pressed the government to approve a “Maricarmen royal decree”, warning that if the regulation does not progress, the executive “makes no sense”. In a Cadena SER interview, union spokesperson Valeria Racu said there was still no date for a general strike, pending union agreements, while major unions CCOO and UGT have not confirmed any general-strike call — though UGT’s Pepe Álvarez backed building a united response and Unai Sordo supported a broad social mobilisation.

The movement’s broader programme includes indefinite rental contracts, rent reductions, expropriations from what it calls “vulture funds” and an end to evictions — a gap the unions say explains why the decrees’ fall will not demobilise the streets.