Spain's housing crisis is worsening, with local media reporting Saturday morning that amid widespread protests, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez could call an early election in about two months rather than next summer. On Friday, parliament in Madrid rejected a package of emergency measures introduced by the government that it said were intended to help residents cope with soaring housing costs.
The parliamentary debate lasted about five hours as protesters gathered outside demanding assistance for renters. The government's proposal was defeated after the Catalan separatist party Junts — whose support Sánchez needed after the 2023 election to form a minority government — followed through on an earlier announcement that it would oppose the two decrees put to a vote.
Prime Minister Sánchez. 'The issue of housing is more favorable than corruption'
(Photo: Thomas COEX / AFP)
The defeat fueled speculation that Sánchez could dissolve parliament, though he has yet to address the possibility. In a speech to lawmakers, he said the measures proposed by his government were essential: "Behind these decrees is the desire to bring order and a sense of humanity to a market that, if we do not rein it in, will destroy our society. Do the right thing, or history will judge you, sooner than you think."
Average rent in Spain has nearly doubled over the past decade. The average price per square meter rose from 8.20 euros ($9.31) in 2016 to 15.10 euros ($17.15) this year. The measures proposed by the government and rejected by parliament included a ban on evictions of "vulnerable" people, tax incentives to encourage property owners to rent out homes, measures aimed at curbing real estate speculation and provisions making rental contracts automatically renewable at the tenant's discretion.
Sánchez is currently grappling with a series of scandals and crises, including the mass arrival of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta as well as legal proceedings involving his Socialist Party and members of his family.
Oriol Bartomeus, a political science professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, told The Associated Press that holding an early election in about two months could also benefit the prime minister: "It is clear that the issue of housing is more favorable than corruption. But if he calls elections now, he has to wait 54 days to hold them, and in that time absolutely anything can happen."
Protesters' encampment in Madrid's Puerta del Sol
(Photo: REUTERS/Juan Medina)
Carla Cremonte, a 34-year-old Madrid resident who took part in the protest outside parliament on Friday, said: "I don’t know what might happen, whether elections will be called, but in the streets we will continue fighting and the atmosphere is one of a general strike."
The mass protests in Spain erupted in recent days over the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, from the Madrid home where she had lived for more than 70 years after she was unable to keep up with the sharp rise in rent in recent years.
"I haven't managed to defend my home, but I have fought so that others can learn to fight for what's theirs," she said in a video recorded from her hospital bed, where she has remained since the eviction.
Abascal's father first rented the apartment in 1956, and she remained there as a rent-controlled tenant after her parents died. The building changed ownership beginning in 2018, and an investment fund that acquired her apartment raised her monthly rent from 500 euros ($570) to 2,650 euros ($3,021). Although the rent was later reduced to 1,650 euros ($1,881), it still represented a 230% increase and remained beyond what Abascal could afford on her pension.
Footage of Abascal's eviction from her apartment on Wednesday sparked outrage and criticism of the authorities and real estate investment firms, which are accused of pushing residents out of their homes as prices rise.
Protesters set up camp in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, pitching tents and declaring that they would not leave until the government seriously addressed the housing crisis. Demonstrations were also held in other cities, with protesters demanding stronger protections for renters, measures to combat fraud and a ban on evicting tenants when no alternative housing is available.