Fresh protests over housing flare in Spain after lawmakers reject relief measures

Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Madrid and other cities in Spain on Saturday to demand affordable housing, fuelled by anger at lawmakers who narrowly rejected measures put forward by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to strengthen protection for tenants.

Demonstrators protest at Madrid's Puerta del Sol square after a parliamentary vote on protections against evictions of vulnerable tenants on October 2, 2026. © Alejandro Martinez Velez, Reuters

Fresh protests over housing flared in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday, a day after parliament narrowly rejected the government's proposed relief measures for tenants.

The rallies by tens of thousands of protesters extended a crisis that has gone on for more than a week, triggered by the September 23 forced expulsion of a pensioner from her Madrid flat.

The government introduced the measures after nationwide protests following the eviction, on a stretcher, of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a Madrid apartment she had occupied for around seven decades.

The defeat was another political setback for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and has renewed questions over whether his minority government can survive until the next scheduled general election in 2027.

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