Rent crisis, new elections and general strike in Spain

Protests against high rental prices and the power of investment funds in the Spanish housing market are leading to a government crisis. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is now calling for new elections in November. Meanwhile, trade union associations are calling for a general strike.

There is a rental price crisis in Spain. Over the last ten years, rents have increasedalmost doubled, tenants now pay per square meter14.69 eurosin the national average. The situation is particularly bad in large cities and in areas popular with tourists. Accordingly, there have been repeated protests there in recent years.

Mass movement against rent prices

Recently, however, a new, nationwide wave of protests broke out. The protests were sparked by...Evictionof 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who was removed on a stretcher from her home of the last 70 years. Her rent had recently risen to 2,650 euros per month, which she couldn't afford. The owner of the house, the Urbagestión real estate fund, had not previously accepted any proposals to clarify further rental by the tenant.

Even before the forced eviction, various activists and politicians had gathered at the house. Activists from the Madrid Tenants Association blocked access to the house with a sit-in, which was eventually cleared by the National Police. Tenants' association spokeswoman Alicia del Río condemned alleged police violence during the operation.

The local protest against the forced eviction turned into a nationwide solidarity and protest movement that took to the streets under the motto “Ni una Maricarmen más” (English: “No more Maricarmen”). In addition to large demonstrations, the protesters also made their anger against the funds and their big capitalists heard with protest camps in Madrid on the Puerta del Sol, in Barcelona, ​​Seville and Málaga.

In the meantime, Maricarmen was allowedback to her apartment- a result of long negotiations between her lawyer and the real estate fund - but this did not stop the protests.

Protests in Spain: “We can no longer pay the rent!”

Weak government

As a result of the nationwide protests, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez triedtwo decrees on pension reformto pass through Parliament. Among other things, evictions should be suspended and market speculation in housing made more difficult. A decree also stipulated that tenants could automatically extend their rental contracts. In Spain, rental contracts are generally time-limited and must be renegotiated regularly, which contributes to the increase in rental prices. Both decrees failed to secure a majority.

In response, Sánchez announced early elections in November this year. Actually, the election should not have been held until next summer. Sánchez and his Social Democratic Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE, German Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) hope to take advantage of the great discontent among the population about rents in order to shift the majority in their favor. This is intended to counteract the current trend of decline in the ruling party.

Sánchez’s PSOE is suffering from various crises and great unpopularity. The exit of the Catalan separatist party Junts from the government pushed the other governing parties into a minority government around a year ago. Since then, we have had to rely on opposition votes that we cannot rely on. This is also shown by the last votes, in which the Junts party, which is economically more right-wing, voted against the housing decrees.

Finally, the government is also looking at thisMass rushof Moroccan migrants to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta andallegations of corruptionconfronted with the social democratic ruling party PSOE. The head of governmenthopedNevertheless, and despite poor poll numbers, there is now a “much broader majority in parliament” with the new elections.

Mass rush on Ceuta: Migration as a means of pressure between Morocco and Spain

According to surveys, the future government parties could be the conservative People's Party PP and the fascist Vox party instead of the PSOE and its allies. With the early elections on November 29th, a fascist party could again come into power in Spain.

Protests continue

The situation of tenants in Spain will not change until the new elections. Rental prices remain extremely high and the trend continues to rise.

Trade union associations have also recognized this and become oneGeneral strikecalled. The tenants' association had previously also called for one. An exact date has not yet been set, but the unions have announced that the strike should take place before the new elections in November. How the strike will affect the election results and whether the PSOE can benefit from the anger over the rent situation remains to be seen.

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