Tens of thousands protest in Spain after failed housing reforms

Latest demonstrations deepen a days-long crisis after parliament struck down two affordable housing decrees.Tens of thousands of people are rallying across Spain to demand affordable housing measures, the day after members of parliament rejected an emergency relief package for tenants.Demonstrators took to the streets in the capital, Madrid, and about 50 other cities on Saturday, calling for a general strike and reforms to address the country’s increasingly expensive housing market.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Is Spain’s anti-eviction decree a fix for its housing crisis?list 2 of 4Pot banging protests across Spain over housing crisislist 3 of 4Greece pushes EU to suspend asylum during mass migration surgeslist 4 of 4Spain’s parliament rejects gov’t housing decrees amid mass protestsend of listOn Friday, the Spanish parliament voted down two decrees proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority left-wing government that intended to quell the crisis.“It’s a shame,” Nando de Anguulo, 26, told the Reuters news agency while protesting in Madrid. “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.”Valeria Racu, a spokesperson for the Tenants’ Union, said Saturday’s rallies revealed “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”.The eviction of an 87-year-old pensioner from her Madrid home triggered the movement more than a week ago, as hundreds set up tents in central Madrid to push for reforms.“Now begins real politics – politics which has always belonged to the people and which will return once and for all to the streets,” Racu added.A banner reads ‘Houses to live in, planet to inhabit’ in Madrid on October 3, 2026 [Javier Soriano/AFP]In the southeastern city of Valencia, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up demonstrations. About 30 protesters managed to get inside the City of Arts and Sciences, a landmark cultural building, before police ousted them.