Following protests held in several cities across the country, the Spanish government has approved a package of measures to address the housing crisis, including a ban on evictions until 2030. At the center of the public reaction was the case of an 87-year-old woman who was removed from her apartment in Madrid.
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The decision was taken by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s cabinet on Tuesday. The package includes extending rental contracts until 2028, tighter restrictions on short-term rentals and rooms, as well as a ban on investment companies purchasing homes.
The two decrees entered into force immediately, but their final approval requires a vote in Congress within 30 days. The government intends for the parliamentary procedure to take place as early as this Friday.
The measures were announced after protests were held in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga and Cadiz against the worsening housing situation. Anger intensified significantly after 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from her home in Madrid last week. On September 23, the woman was carried out of the apartment on a stretcher, images that became a symbol of the debate over Spain’s housing crisis.
Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez called on lawmakers to vote in favor of the decrees. She said Congress could turn Abascal’s suffering into a change that would benefit many other people. Meanwhile, Health Minister Mónica García said the measures were expected to ease the situation for more than five million people.
According to García, the intervention aims to regulate the housing market and establish a fairer relationship between citizens and large investment funds. She expressed gratitude to activists and protesters, stressing that without their mobilization, these measures would not have been approved.
Sánchez’s governing coalition is a minority government made up of the ruling Socialists and their junior partner, the Sumar alliance. Since it does not hold a parliamentary majority, the executive will need to secure the support of other parties to turn the decrees into law.
The government has 30 days from the publication of the decrees to gather the necessary votes. In April, right-wing parties blocked an earlier decree aimed at extending rental contracts.
Míriam Nogueras, spokesperson for the center-right Catalan nationalist party Junts, said evictions from homes owned by large investment funds must be halted.
However, Nogueras opposed placing small landlords in the same category as large funds. She said people who have invested their savings in an apartment or another property cannot be treated in the same way as funds managing millions of euros. Junts, together with other right-wing parties, is expected to play a decisive role in the parliamentary vote on the measures.
