Protesters spent the night camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol after a housing march on Saturday, 26 September 2026, calling for action on evictions, rent increases and the proposed "decreto Maricarmen". The march passed through Cibeles to the Congress of Deputies. The camp remained after the demonstration, information from La Vanguardia.
The Sindicato de Inquilinas de Madrid wants the Government and opposition parties PP, Vox and Junts to respond to what it calls a housing emergency affecting millions of people in Spain. Its immediate demand is approval of the proposed "decreto Maricarmen". The group says Maricarmen’s case shows why isolated measures will not fix the housing system.
Reports from the square described around 20 tents, with dozens or hundreds of people spending the night there. Estimates of the demonstration’s attendance diverged sharply: Madrid authorities put the crowd at about 25,000, while organisers claimed 300,000 participants, information from reports by the Associated Press and Spanish media. The demonstration turned into an ongoing occupation of Puerta del Sol.
Maricarmen also addressed Pedro Sánchez directly in a video shared on social media. She said she wanted her experience to help people fight and change unjust laws. AP and Spanish reports identify her as an 87-year-old woman who lived in the property all her life before her eviction. Her case has become a symbol of Spain’s rental crisis.
The proposed package would automatically renew all rental contracts and make them indefinite. The Sindicato de Inquilinas points to similar arrangements in England, Germany and Austria. It also wants stronger eviction protections to prevent vulnerable families and households from being removed.
According to AFP, the rent in Maricarmen’s case rose by 275% to €2,650 a month. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the housing crisis a "tragedy".
The union is also demanding a freeze on rent updates linked to the CPI. It wants changes to the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, or LAU, to regulate seasonal and room-by-room rentals, along with effective extensions for contracts already in force.
For the organisation, the dispute reaches beyond one tenant’s fate. It wants housing to stop operating as a speculative business and become a guaranteed right. The proposed decree sits at the centre of a wider argument over temporary protections.
Actions are planned in Burgos, León, Ibiza, Córdoba, Zamora, Almería and Huesca, with more dates possibly to be announced in the coming days. Democrata and other reports describe simultaneous actions in dozens of cities. The campaign uses the slogan "Ni una Maricarmen más".
The route from Sol to Congress addressed regional and national authorities at the same time. Some attendees compared the atmosphere in Puerta del Sol with the 15M movement. That comparison comes from participants, not an announced political programme. The overnight camp also recalls the protest experience of 2011.
The demands now have a specific legislative form: indefinite contract renewal, stronger protection against evictions, frozen CPI updates, regulation of seasonal and room rentals, and extensions for existing agreements. None of the measures has been approved. The camp is pressing for legal change.
The Government is being asked to act on a named case, while opposition parties face the same housing demands. Parallel actions in several cities could keep the issue in political debate beyond Madrid.
The campaign has gained visibility and coordination, but it has yet to change the rules governing rent and evictions. Its next test is whether the pressure can put the proposed "decreto Maricarmen" on the political agenda.
