Thousands of people marched in the Spanish capital Madrid on Sunday to protest rising rents, high house prices and a growing housing shortage.
Organizers said more than 100,000 people attended the march, while officials put the figure at around 23,000.
The demonstration, organized by the Madrid Tenants Union and supported by Spain’s two main trade unions, is taking place despite recent action by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government to tackle the housing crisis.
“Housing measures, although some are moving in the right direction, are moving at a snail’s pace, while the housing crisis is rapidly increasing,” said Unai Sordo, general secretary of the CCOO union.
Housing shortage is worsening
Spain’s central bank says that between 2021 and 2025, the number of new homes built will grow faster than the number of new homes built, leading to a shortage of about 700,000 homes.
“More and more people are being forced to live in overcrowded conditions, having to live in shared rooms or even with other families,” Fernando de los Santos, a spokesman for the tenants’ association, told the AFP news agency.
According to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, housing costs are set to rise by about 13% year-on-year in 2025.
To help combat this, the government last month approved a new 7 billion euro ($8.23 billion) plan to build more public housing over the next four years. It also includes support for young renters and homebuyers.
A separate decree prohibiting fare increases did not pass the legislature.
Anger over vacation rentals
Another major demand of the protesters is strict government action on tourist fares.
There has been a surge in holiday homes in city centres, outpacing hotel growth for years during Spain’s tourism boom, but locals say the proliferation of holiday rentals is driving up rents and property prices.
Authorities are now tightening the rules as pressure grows to protect housing for residents.
Edited by: Jennifer Cimino Gonzalez
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