Protesters camp at Madrid’s downtown square, Puerta del Sol, demanding political action to stop evictions and alleviate the housing crisis, after the forceful eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her apartment in Madrid, Spain, September 29, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The Spanish government on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) approved measures including a ban on evictions until 2030 and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts, a Minister said, following days of nationwide housing protests.
Unaffordable housing has been a running sore for years in Spain, but the outcry over last Wednesday’s eviction of 87-year-old Madrid pensioner Maricarmen Abascal sparked national uproar.
Demonstrators have set up around 100 tents in Madrid’s emblematic Puerta del Sol square since Saturday night, while tens of thousands of people have protested across the country.
The Socialist-led government raced to finalise a deal with far-left coalition partners Sumar at a key cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
But the measures hang in the balance as the coalition lacks a majority in a heavily fragmented parliament, which must pass them.
Health Minister Monica Garcia listed on social media a series of measures including the eviction ban and the automatic contract renewals, saying what had been achieved was “unimaginable a month ago”.
Garcia also mentioned the regulation of short-term rentals and a “ban on the purchase of housing by vulture funds”, without providing further details.
“Thank you to the mobilisations and the camps. Without you, this would not have been possible,” said the Sumar minister.
Justice Minister Felix Bolanos wrote on X: “Today is a great day for tenants and small homeowners. And a bad one for speculators.”
Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez was due to offer a press conference with details on the measures agreed by cabinet.
‘Structural changes’ needed
The camping protesters in central Madrid had warned their movement would continue if the government failed to meet their demands.
Guillermo Mendez, who had travelled hundreds of kilometres from the northern region of Asturias to join the camp, said only “structural changes will change things”.
“It has to be something on a national scale, general strikes, protests,” the 40-year-old tourist guide told AFP from his green tent.
Abascal, who was evicted on a stretcher from her Madrid home of 70 years, has become a symbol of popular anger at runaway housing prices and a lack of tenant protections.
A deal was announced on Monday for her to return after negotiations with the real estate firm that owned her apartment, which the Madrid Tenants’ Union said hiked her monthly rent by 275 percent to 2,650 euros ($3,000).
Mendez said it was “great” Abascal’s case had been resolved, but added: “it’s a plaster on a huge wound that the economy and society of this country are suffering.”
Published – September 29, 2026 06:03 pm IST
