Parliament rejected both of Pedro Sánchez’s housing decrees on Friday. By Saturday, protesters had filled Madrid’s main boulevards, and the prime minister was weighing a snap election. The Spanish Tenants Union said 500,000 people marched in the capital. The government’s delegation in Madrid put the figure at 70,000. Euronews also reported the gap between the two counts.
Four columns converged on Cibeles Square. Demonstrations spread across dozens of Spanish cities, while similar protests took place in Lisbon, Dublin, Potsdam and The Hague. Activists had camped for about a week in Puerta del Sol, one of the capital’s main tourist squares.
A Government Defeated on Its Own Housing Agenda
The government unveiled two long-delayed housing bills on Tuesday. They aimed to curb speculative practices, extend eviction protections for vulnerable tenants and automatically renew existing contracts. Both failed within days. Euronews reported that the first decree drew 172 votes in favour and 178 against, while the second received 166 in favour and 184 against. The PP, Vox and UPN voted no, and Junts refused to back the measures.
Junts spokesperson Míriam Nogueras called the decrees “a poorly drafted law.” Secretary general Jordi Turull argued they would have “discouraged” property sales. The PSOE said the texts already included Junts’ proposals. “What more do they want?” it asked. Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz said evictions “have three names”: Feijóo, Abascal and Nogueras. Alberto Núñez Feijóo pledged to seek a legal formula so there would be no further term without a budget.
Sánchez ended his speech on the decrees with a warning. “History will judge you sooner than you think and more harshly than you imagine,” he said.
What the Street Is Demanding
The protests followed the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the apartment where she had lived since 1956, which is 70 years. Housing campaigners said an investment company had bought the property and sought to raise her rent by 275%. After the backlash, the new owners agreed to let her return at a low rent. Euronews reported that she was carried out on a stretcher and was recovering in hospital.
Tenants Union spokesperson Valeria Racu said average rents had risen nearly 90% over the past decade. The union wants a 50% rent cut, open-ended contracts and the expropriation of homes from vulture funds. It’s also pushing for a general strike, though Racu said no date had been set. The union was negotiating the strike with other organisations, and organisers wanted it to be “historic.”
Racu took aim at the government, too. “Eight days of people power have achieved more than eight years of progressive government,” she said. Sánchez has been in office since 2018, which is eight years. The union’s statement said: “There is an irreparable disconnect between what the people want and what the parties vote for.”
In Valencia, protesters marched toward the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, where the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026 property investment conference was under way. Some protesters removed barriers and the police cordon, then threw objects at officers. Police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas, and several people reached the upper part of the building. Organisers in Cádiz said average rent was about 900 euros and that buying a home cost 200,000.
The Electoral Arithmetic
Sánchez also faced pressure over the ongoing migrant crisis in Ceuta and corruption cases involving members of his family and close political allies. Senior government figures indicated he was considering an early election. Emiliano García-Page, the Socialist president of Castilla-La Mancha, and the party’s leaders in Extremadura, the Basque Country and Castilla y León urged him to call one. Sánchez alone would decide.
The People’s Party led the polls with 34% and was open to governing with Vox, which stood at 18%. The Socialists had 26%. Yolanda Díaz declined to seek reelection. Health Minister Mónica García and Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun were seen as frontrunners to lead Sumar. Irene Montero and Ada Colau were each positioning to head a broader left alliance.
Why This Matters: Housing is a national competence, and Spain’s parliament has now voted down the government’s two answers to it. The crisis has moved from legislation to the street. Demands for rent cuts and expropriation sit beside a Junts warning that the decrees would have discouraged property sales. That’s the investment and supply question any housing policy must settle. From a centre-right perspective, the episode shows how a government that can’t assemble a majority loses its authority to act. It also shows the cost of leaving affordability unresolved for years. With the PP leading at 34% and open to a deal with Vox, an early election could shift Spanish policy on housing, migration and budgets, and with it Madrid’s stance inside the EU. Voters, not Brussels, will decide that.