Rent fight in Spain: From frustration to general strike

The disappointment is great. After the two bills that were supposed to regulate the housing market and rents were rejected by a right-wing majority in the Spanish Parliament on Friday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in over 50 Spanish cities on Saturday. “Towards the general strike,” was written on banners in Madrid that led the four demonstrations of a star march. According to the tenants' union, there were around half a million participants - 70,000 according to the government.

The protest in Madrid was the largest demonstration of all. In Spain's second largest city, Barcelona, ​​the protest event had to be canceled after the weather service announced heavy rain with hurricane-force winds.

The participants chanted slogans against the so-called vulture funds, which speculate in housing, and loudly demanded a reduction in rents, which leave many with little money left over for life. “If at least the law with the emergency measures had passed, it would have helped many,” explains Sandra Mora, a spokeswoman for the tenants’ union and its coordinator in the poor south of Madrid, to the taz.

Forced evictions, like that of 87-year-old pensioner Maricarmen, whose case recently triggered mass protests, would no longer have been possible. The funds would then not have been able to buy any apartments in the next few years and existing rental contracts, which are all limited to five or seven years, would have been automatically extended for two years without a rent increase.

All of this seemed certain until last Thursday. But then the Catalan independence party Junts, led by exiled Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont, changed its position and voted against the law together with the right-wing Partido Popular (PP) and the right-wing extremist VOX.

“The time for politics is over,” spokespersons for the tenants’ union repeatedly explain. Behind the scenes, talks are underway with the major unions about a general strike for better rent laws. The pressure from the street is so great that the unions can hardly refuse to declare the strike.

Surveys show that two thirds of Spaniards are in favor of intervention in the housing market. Even among those who voted for PP or VOX, over half are in favor of stopping evictions and taking measures against speculative real estate funds.

Meanwhile, the tenants' union has withdrawn from the protest camp in the central Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. It will probably be dismantled in the coming days. The motto: Back to the districts to prepare for this strike from there. Most recently, over 1,200 tents were counted. Protest camps have also been set up in numerous smaller cities, which now also have to decide on their future.

Meanwhile, speculation continues about early elections following the defeat of the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez in the vote. The decision should be made by Monday. The elections must take place by early summer 2027 at the latest. If Sánchez moves it forward to November 29th - so the rumors go - he could try to convert the tenant mobilization into votes for the left.

But there is a problem. The left-wing alternative coalition partner, the Sumar electoral alliance, will not run again in this form. On the left of the Socialists, negotiations have been underway for months about a new electoral alliance and a new top candidate. Now the left is under time pressure. Because without a strong left it is not possible to prevent PP/VOX from winning the election.