Spain’s Parliament Rejects Tenant Protections as Rents Nearly Double in a Decade

Spain’s housing crisis spilled into the streets on Saturday after the country’s parliament rejected two government decrees meant to protect renters, a defeat that highlighted both the soaring cost of housing and the fragility of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority government.

The decrees, voted down on Friday, would have automatically renewed expiring rental contracts and restricted evictions of vulnerable tenants, and they took aim at so-called vulture funds, investment firms that buy up property cheaply, according to Euronews. They failed when Junts, a right-leaning Catalan separatist party whose votes the government needs, joined the conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox in opposing them. Junts said the measures lacked rigor, Euronews reported, and Al Jazeera said the party argued they would tighten the housing market further.

The economics behind the anger are stark. Average rents in Spain have nearly doubled over the past decade, and asking prices for homes have risen about 90 percent, according to figures from the property website Idealista cited by Euronews.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid and about 50 other cities at the call of the Tenants’ Union, which said there was an irreparable gap between what people want and how the parties vote, Al Jazeera and Euronews reported. Protesters called for housing reforms and a general strike. Most demonstrations were peaceful. The movement gathered force more than a week earlier after the eviction of an elderly Madrid tenant drew national attention, and activists had been camping in central Madrid since.

The defeat leaves Sanchez, who governs in coalition with the left-wing Sumar alliance, without a clear path on one of voters’ top concerns. His office did not comment, and Spanish media reported that he was watching the size of the protests before deciding his next step, Al Jazeera said. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the Popular Party, urged him to call an election as soon as possible, saying he had the support of neither the streets nor parliament. Polls generally show the Popular Party ahead of the Socialists, and the next general election is due in 2027.

The opponents of the decrees make an argument that economists have long debated: that automatic lease renewals and limits on evictions can discourage owners from renting at all, shrinking supply and pushing prices higher in the long run. Supporters respond that tenants facing sudden, steep increases need protection now, and that building enough new housing will take years.

Spain’s struggle is part of a wider European squeeze. Euronews also reported, citing Eurostat figures, that Portugal recorded the largest increase in house prices in the European Union in the second quarter.