Spain: Massive protests after housing bills voted down
48 minutes ago
Tens of thousands of people protested across Spain on Saturday to demand affordable housing .
The protests come a day after the Spanish parliament narrowly voted down two emergency bills designed to support renters and prevent evictions.
"It only proves that it is us the people who have to adapt to the political parties, and not the politicians to what the people want, and this can't go on like that," one 26-year-old protester in Madrid told the Reuters news agency.
They are the latest demonstrations in a week-long wave of actions that began in response to the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascalin , in Madrid.
"What we are feeling in the streets is a new energy that we haven't seen in a long time, and energy that is showing that eight days of people's power can achieve more than eight years of progressive government," said Valeria Racu, one of the spokespeople of the Tenants' Union organizing Saturday's protest.
Police said around 70,000 people took part in the demonstration in Madrid. Organizers put the figure closer to 500,000 people.
Additional protests were held in around 50 other cities.
In the eastern city of Valencia, police used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters.
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