Spain: Housing Crisis Turns Political, Calls for Early Elections and Escalating Protests
Protests in Spain have escalated after the parliament rejected the government's measures to address the housing crisis, prompting the opposition to call on Sanchez for early elections.
Translated by Qiyas from الأنباء — Original source
Madrid and other Spanish cities witnessed an escalation of protests yesterday over the housing crisis, with organizers estimating the number of participants in the hundreds of thousands, a day after parliament rejected measures proposed by the government to contain the crisis.
The protests come amid a crisis that began about ten days ago, when an elderly woman was evicted from her home in the capital, becoming a symbol of the housing crisis that has plagued Spain for years. The day before yesterday, parliament defeated two bills introduced by Pedro Sánchez’s government in an attempt to contain the housing crisis, dealing a setback to the socialist prime minister and paving the way for an escalation of protests.
Opposition parties in the Spanish parliament rejected the measures proposed by Sánchez’s government, which included the automatic renewal of rental contracts and restrictions on evicting low-income tenants. The rejection of these measures angered protesters concerned about the rising cost of housing in the country, with hundreds of demonstrators maintaining a sit-in at a camp set up in central Madrid for two weeks to pressure for reforms. Authorities estimated the number of participants in the protest march in Madrid at 70,000, while organizers claimed the figure approached half a million.
The Catalan separatist party Junts joined the People’s Party, the main opposition movement, and the far-right Vox party in rejecting the measures. After the vote, People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for “calling elections as soon as possible.”
