Hundreds of thousands protest in Madrid over Spanish housing crisis

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid and across Spain on Saturday to protest against the housing crisis. Euronews reported that nearly 500,000 people joined the protest in Madrid, while Demócrata noted that the Tenants' Union estimated attendance at 500,000 marchers. Other media outlets, including the BBC and Reuters, both reported that tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Spanish cities. [1][2]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, the nationwide protests broke out after the Spanish parliament voted down two emergency housing decrees proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. DW.com reported that massive protests followed the rejection of the housing bills. Demonstrators gathered in around 50 cities, including Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, and called for a general strike over rising housing costs. [1][6][7]

The demonstrations followed weeks of rising discontent over housing affordability. The eviction on 23 September 2026 of an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascal, brought the issue into national focus. The situation was further heightened by the suicide of an evicted woman in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Olga Matute, and a controversy over a luxury penthouse purchase by Madrid premier Isabel Diaz Ayuso. Demonstrators established an organised protest camp at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid on 26 September. [4]