A series of protests began in Spain following the high-profile eviction on 23 September 2026 of an 87-year-old, María del Carmen "Maricarmen" Abascal, which brought the country's ongoing affordable housing crisis back into the spotlight. Public discontent on the issue of housing had already been building up over a scandal involving the controversial purchase of a luxury penthouse by Madrid premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the suicide of an evicted woman in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Olga Matute, earlier in September. On 26 September, the protests turned into an organised protest camp at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, in an action widely compared to the 15-M Movement in 2011, forcing the Spanish government under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to agree to an emergency relief package including a temporary ban on evictions and stronger protection for tenants amid soaring rents.
Protesters have called for the enforcement of the right to housing, access to affordable housing and increased protection of tenants against landlord abuse and price hikes. While they have been very critical of the housing policies of Spanish administrations—both at the national, regional and local level, and regardless of political affiliation—the protests have met with understanding and sympathy from political parties on the left (such as the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and Sumar), and with open hostility from the right-wing People's Party and Vox. These parties, jointly with Together for Catalonia, blocked the parliamentary ratification of the two decree-laws containing the Spanish government's relief measures on 2 October, further fuelling the protests, which spread to cities across the country amid calls for a general strike in defence of housing rights and against property speculation. The parliamentary defeat of the decrees prompted Sánchez to call a snap general election for 29 November 2026, as well as to re-approve the decrees with enhanced protection measures for tenants and force their ratification through the Congress's interim Permanent Deputation.
On 7 October, Maricarmen died in the hospital to which she was taken upon eviction, with her death sparking more protests and renewed political infighting. The protests and their political impact have been described sometimes as part of the worldwide Gen Z protests.
Background
Housing crisis in Spain
Housing costs and rental prices had been soaring for many years in Spain, particularly in major urban centers, as wages have not increased to the same extent. Housing construction in the country collapsed following the bursting of the Spanish property bubble in 2008 and the subsequent real estate crisis, but population kept growing in larger city areas (such as Madrid), causing a housing shortage in places where it was needed the most; the proliferation of short-term rents for tourism has been another factor, by significantly reducing long-term rental stock and driving up rent prices.
Recent analyses emphasised structural constraints on Spanish housing supply. In its 2025 annual report, the Bank of Spain described restrictions on housing supply growth as the principal factor behind the current housing access crisis, citing slow land development, low productivity and small firm size in residential construction, higher construction costs, and a shortage of skilled labor. Similarly, the OECD reported that only 345,000 permits for new dwellings were issued in Spain between 2022 and 2024, a period when there were 604,000 net new households. This report identified limited buildable land in high-demand areas, lengthy and uncertain permitting procedures, and poor coordination between different levels of government as key issues. The Bank of Spain warned in June 2026 that 750,000 new homes would be needed to close the gap between newly formed households and the available housing stock.
Housing policy has been a heavily disputed battleground between the Spanish government and regional administrations, which hold primary constitutional powers over urban planning and public housing. The central government adopted a Housing Law in 2023 that allowed regions to declare "stressed residential market zones" (Spanish: zonas tensionadas) to enforce state-backed rent caps, but it failed to ease pressure on the country's housing crisis as most regions ruled by the People's Party (PP) fundamentally resisted or blocked these measures, arguing that price controls hurt the market supply.
According to opinion polls, the issue of housing has emerged as one of Spain's major problems since 2025, with those surveyed also frequently showing support for increased government intervention to lower rents. Large demonstrations in support of housing rights and against property speculation took place in October 2024 in Madrid and Valencia, and in April 2025 and May 2026 in multiple cities across Spain. Concurrent anti-tourism protests in 2024 and 2025 took place against the overcrowding of city centers and housing shortages that displace locals.
Scandals and incidents
A scandal broke out in early 2026 after it transpired that public housing in Alicante—a PP-ruled municipality—had been allocated to high-ranking party and city council officials (including the local official responsible for urban planning), their relatives, and friends. A judicial probe was opened to investigate possible crimes of malfeasance in office, insider trading, conflict of interest and political corruption.
Throughout the summer of 2026, it was revealed that the Madrid regional government had purchased a luxury penthouse valued at €6.3 million earlier that year; while the official purpose of the purchase remained unclear amid changing versions, it was suggested for use as a personal residence for regional premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The scandal inflamed public outrage amid the ongoing housing crisis, while legal proceedings were initiated regarding a possible misappropriation of public funds. During The District real estate fair in Madrid on 22 September 2026, three housing activists stormed the venue to protest against the policies of Ayuso, José Luis Martínez-Almeida (Madrid's mayor) and speculation, scattering leaflets and setting off stink bombs.
A 54-year-old woman from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Olga Matute, died by suicide in early September 2026 after being evicted from her home. Her eviction procedure had resumed after the Congress —with the votes of PP, Vox and Together for Catalonia (Junts)—struck down a decree-law in February 2026 extending a suspension of evictions approved by Sánchez's government in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Developments
Maricarmen's eviction and initial protests
On 23 September, María del Carmen "Maricarmen" Abascal, a disabled 87-year-old woman, was forcefully evicted from her home in Madrid after a long judicial struggle with a real estate company, Urbagestión. The case gained notoriety due to Maricarmen's vulnerable condition and Urbagestión's refusal to suspend the eviction despite pending court filings, humanitarian appeals, a volunteer's offer to cover her rent payments and attempts by public authorities to secure an alternative accommodation for her; as well as by the violent police response—seeing the use of tear gas—at protesters attempting to block the eviction, among whom were actor Carlos Bardem and the singer and actress Ana Belén.
Maricarmen's case served as a catalyst for public discontent at the ongoing housing crisis in Spain, as well as a symbol for the pro-housing movement internationally. Following the eviction, a 10,000-strong spontaneous protest started in front of the Madrilenian government's luxury penthouse, with attendees calling for "Ayuso's penthouse for Maricarmen". The Madrid Tenants' Union (Spanish: Sindicato de Inquilinas de Madrid), which had organised eviction resistance in support of Maricarmen, called for a demonstration on 26 September which saw the participation of between 25,000 (according to authorities) and 300,000 people (according to organisers). This demonstration resulted in protesters spontaneously camping in the middle of the Puerta del Sol square, mirroring the 15-M Movement in 2011, to demand the Spanish government under Pedro Sánchez to ban evictions and push for stronger protection for tenants amid the housing shortage and soaring rents. Protests subsequently spread to other major Spanish cities, such as Valencia, Barcelona, Seville, Zaragoza, Málaga, Murcia, Vigo, A Coruña, Palma de Mallorca, Oviedo, Cádiz, Santiago de Compostela or Guadalajara.
On 29 September, the City Council of Madrid under Almeida demanded the immediate end of the Puerta del Sol camp, while the regional government in Madrid sent a formal request to the Spanish government to dismantle the camp within 48 hours or face legal action. These calls by PP-controlled administrations in Madrid came as Sánchez's government—formed by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Sumar—openly rejected forcefully clearing the encampment, and was joined by protests from campers that the clock chimes at the Royal House of the Post Office (Ayuso's headquarters as president of the Community of Madrid) rang every 15 minutes throughout the night and into the early morning, continuously interrupting their sleep. That same day, far-right groups such as Desokupa threatened on social media to storm Sol and evict the activists. By 30 September, the number of tents in Puerta del Sol had risen to over 1,200, with new encampments in support of the Madrid one spreading to major squares in cities such as Barcelona (Plaça de Catalunya) and Málaga (Plaza de la Constitución).
Government response and reactions
Mounting public pressure forced Urbagestión—the investment fund that had triggered Maricarmen's eviction—to backtrack and allow her to move back into the apartment, while prompting Sánchez's government to agree to emergency relief measures on housing. These measures, distributed in two decree-laws, included:
- A ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030;
- Bans on "vulture funds" buying property until 2028;
- Regulation of temporary leases and room rentals;
- A two-year extension on rental agreements due to expire before the end of 2028;
- A VAT rate increase to 10% for tourist apartments, as well as a hike in the property tax (IBI) for such dwellings;
- Zero-interest loans of up to €50,000 for the purchase of a first home ("Tu Casa" scheme);
- Tax breaks for landlords and tenants to encourage a drop in rental prices;
- A VAT rate reduction to 4% for housing construction;
- Automatic renewal of rental agreements (with compensation of at least 12 months' rent if a landlord terminates a contract without just cause).
While tenant unions criticised the government's move to split the measures into two bills and regarded them as not ambitious enough, they also viewed them as a starting point and demanded their passage in parliament, calling for pressure actions on still-doubting parties. The Catalan government under Salvador Illa praised the central government's measures and announced an additional €125 million shared-ownership plan for families unable to secure a mortgage.
Sánchez's plans were dismissed by the right-wing opposition PP and Vox parties, with its approval relying on Junts's position. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo announced his party's outright opposition to the decrees even before the specific measures were unveiled, while Vox blamed the housing crisis on immigration and called for mass deportations. Republican Left of Catalonia, EH Bildu, Podemos, Més–Compromís and the Galician Nationalist Bloc all announced their support to the two bills, while the Basque Nationalist Party and Canarian Coalition announced their support for the first and their opposition to the second.
Tenant unions called for new protest actions across the country in support of the decrees' approval, including pot-banging protests on 1 October in front of town halls and further demonstrations on 3 and 4 October, while urging for a general strike against the housing crisis. An online initiative calling for the Congress of Deputies to ratify the measures adopted by the government (in a vote scheduled for 2 October) overwhelmed legislators' inboxes with over 300,000 e-mails within 24 hours. In the night previous to the vote, Junts regarded the decrees as having "negative and irreversible effects on housing" and called for their withdrawal or else it would oppose them, all but ensuring they would be brought down by parliament. Sánchez's government replied by announcing it would not withdraw the housing bills and dared Junts, together with PP and Vox, to "show their true colours". Public outcry at a possible parliamentary defeat of the bills was speculated by media as a potential trigger for Sánchez to advance the next general election—scheduled for no later than August 2027, and with a tentative date of February or March 2027—to 29 November 2026.
Vote on the government's plan
The tenant unions announced protests in front of the Congress ahead of the 2 October vote, calls which intensified after Junts confirmed its opposition to the government's plans. Junts' decision was received with outrage by the government parties, as the first decree in particular included many concessions and proposals to appease them, while the unions accused Junts of "constantly boycotting" all talks. Negotiations continued in the last few hours before the vote, with Junts presenting a new housing package and the Spanish government unwilling to withdraw its own plans. Through his X account, Sánchez himself accused PP, Vox and Junts of siding with speculators and stated that "their vote will define them in the eyes of entire generations".