Overview
- The parliamentary votes on Friday failed after Catalan kingmaker party Junts withdrew support and the main opposition parties voted no, leaving the minority Socialist–Sumar coalition short of the numbers needed to ratify two emergency decrees.
- The measures up for ratification included an extended ban on evicting vulnerable tenants through 2030, a two-year extension of rent controls for existing leases, tighter rules on short‑term rentals and a separate proposal for automatic contract renewals.
- Public outrage over the televised eviction of 87‑year‑old Maricarmen Abascal on September 23 sparked mass protests and tent encampments in Madrid and other cities and pushed the government to fast‑track the emergency decrees.
- The investment firm that removed Abascal has agreed to let her return to the flat but she remains hospitalized after being carried out on a stretcher; tenant organisers are pressing for broader demands they call the 'Maricarmen decree'.
- Analysts and officials say the defeat could prolong street mobilisation, increase pressure for a general strike and reshape national politics because Spain’s government depends on small regional parties to pass laws and the votes were cast publicly by show of hands.