Fresh protests over housing flare in Spain after lawmakers reject relief measures

Fresh protests over housing flared in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday, a day after parliament narrowly rejected the government's proposed relief measures for tenants.

The rallies by tens of thousands of protesters extended a crisis that has gone on for more than a week, triggered by the September 23 forced expulsion of a pensioner from her Madrid flat.

The government introduced the measures after nationwide protests following the eviction, on a stretcher, of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a Madrid apartment she had occupied for around seven decades.

The defeat was another political setback for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and has renewed questions over whether his minority government can survive until the next scheduled general election in 2027.

Catalan separatist party Junts – whose support was essential to approve the two decrees – voted against them, arguing they lacked rigour.

After the vote, the leader of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, urged Sanchez to "call elections as soon as possible".

After eight years in power, Sanchez had the backing of "neither the streets nor parliament", he added.

Recent opinion polls have generally placed the opposition Popular Party ahead of the Socialists.

The Tenants' Union, which has been coordinating the protests, called for demonstrations on Saturday in more than 50 cities.

"There is an irreparable disconnect between what the people want and what the parties vote for," it said in a statement.

Targeting vulture funds

In Madrid, activists and protesters have been camping for about a week in Puerta del Sol, one of the capital's main tourist squares.

Demonstrators set off from several locations around the city before converging on Plaza de Cibeles in central Madrid.

The package of measures defeated on Friday included the automatic renewal of rental contracts when they expire, as well as measures aimed at restricting the eviction of vulnerable tenants.

They also targeted so-called vulture funds – investment firms that buy properties at low prices in pursuit of higher returns.

Housing has for years been a top concern for Spaniards as supply falls short of demand, with rents and house prices soaring as elsewhere in the European Union.

Average rents in Spain have almost doubled over the past decade, while asking prices for homes have risen by about 90 percent, according to real estate website Idealista.

Abascal's eviction catalysed long-running anger about runaway housing costs.

She was forced to leave the Madrid flat where she had lived after it was acquired by an investment company that sought to increase her rent by 275 percent, according to housing campaigners.

The backlash led the property's new owners to reach a deal allowing her to return to the flat at a low rent.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)