On Saturday, October 3, the Spanish Tenants Union said 500,000 people joined housing protests across dozens of Spanish cities, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez weighed calling a snap election. The government’s delegation in Madrid estimated 70,000 demonstrators. Sánchez also faced pressure over the ongoing migrant crisis in Ceuta and corruption cases involving members of his family and close political allies.
In Madrid, four columns of protesters filled the capital’s main boulevards, then converged on Cibeles Square. Activists had camped for about a week in Puerta del Sol, one of the city’s main tourist squares. Euronews reported that organisers claimed around 500,000 participants, while authorities put turnout at about 70,000.
Eviction and rent increases
The demonstrations followed the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the apartment where she had lived since 1956. Housing campaigners said an investment company 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 Abascal was carried out on a stretcher and was recovering in hospital.
Average rents in Spain had risen nearly 90% over the past decade, Spanish Tenants Union spokesperson Valeria Racu said. The union is demanding a 50% rent cut, open-ended contracts and the expropriation of homes from vulture funds.
On Tuesday, Sánchez’s government unveiled two long-delayed housing bills, aiming to curb speculative practices, extend eviction protections for vulnerable tenants and automatically renew existing contracts. Parliament rejected both on Friday. The first decree received 172 votes in favour and 178 against; the second received 166 in favour and 184 against. PP, Vox and UPN voted against the measures, while Junts refused to support them.
Organisers call for further pressure
“The people on the streets once again hold the power,” Racu said, adding that the movement would “no longer tolerate inaction.” She said, “Eight days of people power have achieved more than eight years of progressive government,” and said protesters would keep pressuring politicians “regardless of who governs this country.”
Racu called for a general strike to force urgent housing measures, saying “the feelings of disaffection, desperation, disillusionment and sadness have been replaced by a new energy on the streets.” In a statement, the Tenants’ Union said: “There is an irreparable disconnect between what the people want and what the parties vote for.” The union hasn’t set a date for a general strike. Racu said organisers were negotiating with other organisations and wanted it to be “historic.”
In Valencia, protesters marched towards the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, where the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026 property investment conference was taking place. Former Cs leader Albert Rivera was among its speakers. 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. Four organisations called the march, including the Tenants’ Union and the Housing Union.
Election debate and migrant crisis
After parliament rejected the bills, senior government figures indicated Sánchez was considering an early election. He remained out of sight and weighed his options. Sánchez had been in office since 2018, and protesters accused him of failing to address the housing crisis during that period.
On Saturday, Emiliano García-Page, the Socialist president of Castilla-La Mancha, and Socialist party leaders in Extremadura, the Basque Country and Castilla y León urged Sánchez to call an early election. The opposition also called for elections, and some PSOE leaders and ministers were said to favour the idea. Sánchez alone would decide whether to call one.
The possibility of a vote prompted Spain’s fractured left to consider how to regroup. Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz declined to run for reelection. Health Minister Mónica García and Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun were viewed as frontrunners to succeed her in leading the Sumar party. Podemos leader Irene Montero and former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau were also positioning themselves to lead a broader left-wing alliance.
The People’s Party led electoral polls with 34% support and was open to forming a government with Vox, which was polling at 18%. Sánchez’s Socialists had the support of 26% of voters and would need the fragmented left to unite behind an electoral alliance capable of winning enough seats to form a coalition. In Barcelona, Luana Rocha, a member of the camp, told TVE: “We are heading towards a general strike.”