Hundreds of demonstrators remain camped in Madrid's Puerta del Sol as temperatures fall and rain is forecast. The protest has entered its third day, while tenant groups are also calling for action across several regions.
The government is due to approve a royal decree on Tuesday 29 September, intended to ease the housing emergency affecting millions of Spaniards. Negotiations are taking place under pressure from movements demanding automatic rental renewals and a rent freeze, as well as a halt to evictions when no alternative accommodation is available.
Reuters and AP report that the cabinet is seeking measures to provide immediate relief, while AFP also reports on the talks. They may revive proposals that previously failed to pass through parliament. Deutsche Welle reported that estimates for Saturday's march diverged sharply: Madrid authorities put attendance at about 25,000, while the tenants' association said more than 300,000 people took part.
The campaign has given the proposal a human name: the "Decreto Mari Carmen". It refers to an 87-year-old woman who was recently evicted. For the tenants' union, her case shows the gap between the scale of the housing crisis and the protection available to people at risk of losing their homes.
The protest has spread beyond Madrid.
The Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos de Madrid has called demonstrations in Seville, Zaragoza, Murcia, Asturias and Catalonia. The action could spread as the governing parties try to agree on the decree's content and secure political backing.
Anadolu Agency reported that around 600 people were still staying in the Puerta del Sol camp on Monday. This has become a continuing occupation rather than a single march. The agency also reported that camp participants demanded "the right to housing, not a business for the few" and called for stronger tenant protections, along with measures against fraud in the housing market.
Progressive forces, including Sumar and Podemos, have backed urgent approval, as have ERC, Bildu and BNG. Mónica García and other political leaders support rent freezes and an end to evictions. They also acknowledge that a decree with those aims is still far from agreed.
The right-wing opposition takes the opposite view. AFP and AP report that PP and Vox are expected to vote against the measure.
Pedro Sánchez has called for residential use to take priority over tourist use. He has also urged the autonomous communities to apply the housing law approved in 2023.
Reuters says the prime minister wants regional authorities to give greater priority to permanent housing and enforce existing legislation more consistently. The tenants' union remains dissatisfied: it wants direct rent controls, while the government's proposals focus mainly on construction or taxation.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo's opposition proposes cutting taxes and speeding up construction of new homes. The tenants' movement rejects that formula without price limits.
The dispute is about more than the number of homes Spain builds. It also concerns who carries the immediate burden of high rents and eviction proceedings.
Spain faces a shortage of 750,000 homes. The deficit could exceed one million by 2028 because annual construction remains below the level needed to close the gap.
That shortage helps explain the pressure on the decree. Building more homes may improve supply over time, while the measures tenants are demanding aim to protect people facing pressure now.
The two positions can coexist in theory, but the negotiations have produced no agreement on how far the government is prepared to go.
Madrid's mayor, José Luis Rodríguez Almeida, has brought a local fight into the national dispute. He condemned the camp in Puerta del Sol and demanded a return to normal conditions. He also warned of legal consequences if the tents are not removed.
Officials have little room for a symbolic compromise. A narrow decree could secure a cabinet announcement, but it would not meet the demands that brought protesters into the streets or resolve the dispute over rent controls and evictions.
