Protests over Spain’s housing crisis entered their third consecutive day on Monday, as demonstrators continued camping outside the Madrid regional administration to demand stronger protection for tenants and an end to evictions.
The protests intensified following the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid apartment, where she had lived for more than seven decades. Police reportedly removed her from the property on a stretcher after an investment fund that had acquired the apartment secured an eviction order.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered in central Madrid, with tents filling Puerta del Sol square. Demonstrators have displayed messages including “Right to housing,” “Housing is for living” and “Speculators go home.”
The demonstrations escalated last week, when protesters clashed with police outside the apartment building. Spain’s left-wing central government also criticised the centre-right regional administration over the eviction.
On Saturday, around 30,000 people marched through Madrid in protest against the treatment of Abascal and other tenants who have been forced from their homes.
The protests have also highlighted the difficulties facing young Spaniards, many of whom say rising rents are preventing them from moving out of their parents’ homes.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday that his government was working to pass a housing decree in parliament by Tuesday, aimed at providing immediate relief for tenants.
According to Spain’s central bank, the country has a housing deficit of around 750,000 homes. Average rents have doubled over the past decade, significantly outpacing wage growth, while only about 120,000 homes are being built annually — around one-sixth of the level recorded before the 2008 financial crisis.
Further demonstrations were expected to take place across Spain on Monday, according to the Tenants’ Union, which is coordinating the protests.
Madrid regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso has blamed Sanchez’s government for failing to resolve the country’s housing problems during its years in power, highlighting the growing political dispute over how to address the crisis.
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