Spain’s Congress rejected two emergency housing decrees on Friday, October 2, 2026, leaving Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez without parliamentary backing for his government’s response to a week of protests over rents, evictions and housing supply.
The votes followed the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old pensioner who had lived in her flat in central Madrid for 70 years. Police forcibly removed her after she could not meet a sharp rent increase imposed by Urbagestión, the company that owned the property. Following the public backlash, Urbagestión negotiated her return to the flat on a low rent.
Her case became the focus of nationwide demonstrations under the slogan 'Ni una Maricarmen más' ('Not one more Maricarmen'). Several hundred people protested in Madrid and other Spanish cities ahead of the vote, while tens of thousands took to the streets overall. Spain has been gripped by protests for around a week.
Hundreds gathered outside Congress in Madrid as lawmakers debated the measures. Demonstrators rattled keys, blew whistles and struck pots with spoons. When news of the defeats emerged, protesters shouted 'shame' and 'your profits, our misery'.
The first decree fell by 178 to 172. It would have suspended evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, extended by two years rental leases due to expire before 2028, increased taxes on tourist apartments and restricted purchases of residential property by 'vulture funds'.
The second decree was rejected by 184 to 166. The government had put the two measures forward on Tuesday as part of a wider housing package after Abascal’s eviction and the protests that followed.
Sánchez addressed the Chamber of Deputies at the close of a marathon 5-hour debate. He urged lawmakers: 'Do the right thing, or history will judge you, and sooner than you think.'
Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez said the vote would determine whether lawmakers stood with people facing the housing crisis or with the 'vulture funds' that speculate on housing.
The outcome reflected the fragility of Sánchez’s minority government, which depends on support from outside its ranks to legislate. Junts, the conservative Catalan separatist party with seven members of Parliament, has sometimes backed the government. It joined the opposition in voting down both measures.
The defeat underlines that Sánchez does not command a majority in Congress. Sources told Spanish media that the government would spend the weekend deciding whether to dissolve parliament. It remains unclear whether it will do so or what legislative response it will seek next.
The Sindicato de Inquilinas, or Tenants' Union, had organised a tent city in Puerta del Sol Square in central Madrid. Similar camps were established in Barcelona, Seville and Málaga. During the congressional debate, the union said it was abandoning the Madrid tent protest.
The housing pressure has intensified as Spain’s population has grown by three million since 2015, a seven percent increase. The number of overnight stays in vacation rentals has doubled since 2018. Spain’s central bank estimates that the housing shortage will rise to one million units by 2028 if nothing changes.
For Sánchez, the votes leave a politically urgent issue without a measure that can pass Congress. For tenants facing eviction, the proposed protections, including the planned suspension for vulnerable tenants, will not take effect under the defeated decrees.
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