Tens of thousands of people marched through central Madrid on Saturday (26 Sep) to protest Spain’s housing crisis, calling for stronger tenant protections, anti-fraud measures and a ban on evictions without alternative housing.
The demonstration followed the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, from the apartment where she had lived for around 70 years, a case that has become a symbol of rising housing pressures in Spain.
According to Spanish media, Abascal’s father first rented the property in Madrid’s Retiro neighbourhood in 1956. After her parents died, she continued living there, but the building changed ownership in 2018 and the new owner, Urbagestion, increased the rent from around €500 to €2,650.
The rent was later reduced to €1,650, but Abascal was still unable to afford it. Courts had previously blocked three eviction attempts, and her case drew national attention amid wider concerns over housing affordability and tenant security in Spain.
Key developments:
- Government authorities estimated around 25,000 people attended, while organisers, the Madrid Tenants’ Union, claimed more than 300,000.
- The Bank of Spain estimated a national shortage of 550,000 homes last year.
- Protesters established a camp in Puerta del Sol after the march, with some remaining overnight.
The housing demonstration took place on the same day as a separate protest elsewhere in Madrid over the government’s handling of the Ceuta migration crisis, highlighting broader social and political tensions in Spain ahead of the 2027 general election.
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