About 500 people spent the night in Puerta del Sol after Saturday's housing protest. Organisers want secure rental contracts and urgent action before Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
By Sunday morning, about 150 tents stood in Puerta del Sol. Around 500 people had spent the night there after Saturday's mass protest against Spain's housing crisis. Euronews reported the tent figure. RTVE and eldiario.es said people began putting up tents on the evening of 26 September. The organisers plan to keep the camp active before the Government presents a new housing decree on Tuesday 29 September.
The Sindicato de Inquilinas wants the decree to cover evictions, rental contracts and rising rents. Its demands include suspending evictions when no alternative accommodation exists. The group also wants action against the fraudulent use of seasonal and room-rental contracts, a rent freeze and indefinite contracts for tenants.
The overnight protest in Puerta del Sol developed into a tent camp: Euronews reported around 150 tents on the square by the following morning.
"Without indefinite rental contracts there is no Mari Carmen decree," says Gonzalo Álvarez, a spokesperson for the organisation. He argues that any measure that fails to prevent another case like Mari Carmen Abascal's would be a sham.
Her eviction sparked the protest. Mari Carmen Abascal is 87 and had lived in a home in Madrid's Retiro district since 1956. That is more than 70 years. Reuters reported that she was evicted on 23 September, despite protests outside the property and criticism of the Government.
Her case has led to demonstrations in different parts of Spain. Organisers say the issue goes beyond one pensioner. They want to stop more people from losing homes where they have spent most of their lives.
The square stayed occupied.
Estimates of the Saturday march differ sharply. The Sindicato de Inquilinas claimed that 300,000 people took part, while Delegación del Gobierno put the figure at 25,000, illustrating the dispute over the scale of public support for the mobilisation.
Tents, blankets, banners, groups of participants and workshops filled the centre of Madrid. Some protesters remained overnight. Others arrived on Sunday morning to show support. The scene recalled the Puerta del Sol camp of 15 May 2011. The current protest is focused on housing and the Government's promised announcement.
No departure time has been set. Álvarez says participants decided to sleep there again and continue the protest on Monday. The organisation wants pressure to continue until the Government explains what it will approve. It also rejects the idea that housing should be treated mainly as a market asset instead of a basic necessity.
The young people in the camp describe the crisis in plain terms. Fabi spent the night in the square. He says low wages and housing costs have made decent accommodation inaccessible. He is also worried about parents and older relatives who could be pushed out of neighbourhoods where they have lived for decades.
Prices are forcing people out.
Duna came to support the camp but could not stay overnight because of work. She says young people see no realistic future and have little faith that officials are listening. Street mobilisation is still necessary, she says. Without it, she sees no clear path towards change.
The dispute reaches beyond the younger generation. Alberto belongs to the Sindicato de Vivienda de Carabanchel. He says Mari Carmen's case was the final trigger for anger that had already built in many neighbourhoods. Rents keep rising while wages have not kept pace. He does not believe one new law can solve the pressure on working-class households.
Alberto wants the camp to grow into a longer mobilisation across Madrid's neighbourhoods. Earlier housing coverage also described the Government's handling of the issue as a political dispute, as shown in earlier housing coverage.
Tuesday's Cabinet meeting gives the protest a deadline. It does not guarantee a result. The Government is expected to approve a housing-related decree. Demonstrators want it to cover evictions, rents and abusive contract practices, rather than only isolated emergency cases.
Reuters and ABC News described the eviction as part of a wider housing crisis. They reported calls for stronger tenant protections, action against abusive practices and a ban on evictions without alternative accommodation.
The camp wants more than a short-term concession. Its credibility will depend on whether the decree matches the scale of those demands.
