Overview
- An 87-year-old long-term tenant known as Maricarmen was forcibly removed from her Madrid flat after a rent jump that organizers say rose from about €500 to €2,650, and negotiators reached an agreement on Monday for her to return once she signs the new deal and leaves hospital.
- On Tuesday the national cabinet approved two emergency housing decrees that take immediate effect to suspend certain evictions for vulnerable people, extend or convert fixed-term contracts and restrict some purchases by investment funds.
- The decrees must be confirmed by the Congress of Deputies within 30 days, a hurdle for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez because his minority government needs votes from multiple parties whose demands on housing policy differ sharply.
- Mass demonstrations under the slogan 'Ni una Maricarmen más' filled Madrid and other cities, producing protest camps on Puerta del Sol and renewed calls from tenant groups for outright entfristung of contracts, eviction moratoria when no alternative housing exists and limits on speculative 'vulture' funds.
- The measures respond to deeper strains on Spain’s market — rents have climbed sharply while wages lag and the central bank estimates a shortfall of roughly 700,000 homes — which means the political fight over the decrees will shape whether the reforms deliver lasting protections or only temporary relief.