Spain's Congress rejects housing decrees; thousands march
Prime Minister Sánchez lost both decrees with Junts voting against, and the next day a Madrid march produced two numbers: 70,000 by the government, 500,000 by organizers.
Spain's Congress of Deputies rejected on Friday, Oct. 2, both housing decrees from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government, which had been in force for only a few hours. According to The Objective, the first fell by 178 votes to 172 and the second by 184 to 166. The conservative People's Party (PP), the far-right Vox, the Catalan separatist party Junts and the regional party UPN voted against.
The decrees extended rental contracts until 2028, suspended evictions of vulnerable people until 2030 and regulated room and seasonal rentals. Sánchez's coalition government has no majority of its own and relies on Junts. The party had put forward an alternative: voluntary extensions with tax incentives, and no mandatory renewal or 2% cap on rent increases, according to El Español. Junts called the government's measures "false hope" for people facing eviction.
The next day, Saturday, Oct. 3, the Tenants' Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas) brought a march to Madrid. Four columns set out from Atocha, Plaza de España, Emilio Castelar and La Princesa, and met at Cibeles in the rain.
Two numbers for the same march
The union said 500,000 people attended. The Government Delegation in Madrid, which represents the central government in the region, put the figure at 70,000 after first circulating the larger number and then correcting it, according to El Diario de Madrid. There is no independent count.
There were also protests in Valencia, with about 6 000 people, and in Castelló and Girona. Barcelona's was called off because of bad weather. In Valencia, near the Palau de les Arts, clashes left one person detained and nine police officers injured.
The union's spokeswoman, Valeria Racu, said at the march that "the general strike will come soon," according to The Objective's live coverage, without giving a date. With the decrees gone, the contracts and evictions they had frozen return to the previous rules. Some Spanish outlets speculate about an early election and mention Nov. 29; there is no official announcement.
