▲ Protest against housing crisis in Spain
Protests and rallies demanding measures against the housing crisis are spreading across Spain.
An estimated 70,000 people according to authorities, and 50,000 people according to organizers, gathered in the capital city of Madrid alone.
On the 3rd local time, protests demanding solutions to the housing crisis were held in some 40 major cities across Spain, including Madrid and Valencia.
Rallies were postponed in some areas, such as Barcelona, where flood damage occurred due to torrential rain.
In Puerta del Sol square in downtown Madrid, about 2,000 people have pitched tents and are holding a sit-in protest that has entered its seventh day.
In Valencia, as the protests intensified, some police officers were seen taking cover, and police used tear gas and rubber bullets to forcibly disperse the demonstrators.
Protesters marched holding pickets urging rent caps and a general strike.
Valeria Racu, spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants Union, said they are discussing a schedule for a general strike with other organizations.
"Power has returned to the streets," she said, adding, "We will continue to protest until everything changes."
The latest protests were triggered when 87-year-old Mari Carmen Abascal was forcibly evicted from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than 70 years.
A major controversy erupted after TV broadcasts showed her being carried out of her home on a stretcher and police using violent crackdowns against protesters attempting to block the eviction.
Tenant groups claimed that a real estate firm, which purchased the apartment in 2018, raised the monthly rent from 500 euros (approx. 760,000 won) to 2,650 euros (approx. 4.02 million won) before adjusting it to 1,650 euros (approx. 2.5 million won).
According to local media reports, an average of three forced evictions are carried out every day in Madrid alone.
The Spanish government hastily introduced a tenant protection decree featuring provisions to automatically extend lease agreements until 2028, restrict the eviction of vulnerable tenants, and tighten regulations on short-term rentals, but it was voted down in parliament due to opposition from the opposition parties.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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