Congress is due to vote on two government decrees on Friday, 2 October, as tenant unions organise protests before and after the session. The Confederación de Sindicatos de Inquilinas has called saucepan protests across Spain for Thursday at 20.00, with demonstrations planned throughout the weekend.
The group wants lawmakers to approve both texts and protect automatic rental renewals. Its longer-term goal is a general housing strike.
Street pressure has already changed the package. The organisation says the government adopted nearly all the measures in the so-called "decreto Maricarmen" after several days of mobilisation. It strongly objects to the decision to split those measures into two decrees, saying this could make it easier for parliamentary groups to reject automatic renewal of rental contracts.
The Madrid mobilisation began with the attempted eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal. It helped lead to a protest encampment at Puerta del Sol and broader demands for more secure or indefinite rental contracts, the Associated Press reported.
Automatic renewal is the basic fault line. The unions are asking every party to back both decrees, warning that rejection would ignore the public pressure seen in recent days.
Each text needs its own vote in Congress because the government adopted the measures as two separate decrees.
Thursday's action is meant to reach lawmakers before the extraordinary plenary session. The result is uncertain: support from Junts and other parliamentary partners is needed. By 1 October, Junts had indicated it was ready to vote against the package unless the government withdrew or changed the housing decree.
The pressure is already being felt outside parliament.
At the PP headquarters on Madrid's Génova street, tenant union spokesperson Alicia del Río addressed Alberto Núñez Feijóo directly, urging his party's deputies to support the texts. Del Río cast Friday's decision as a choice between protecting families and defending speculation. She said a social majority had already made its position clear.
Saturday's demonstrations will go ahead whatever Congress decides. The organisation also says its camp will stay in place. The package includes protection for vulnerable tenants, a proposed extension until 2030 of the suspension of certain evictions, restrictions affecting so-called vulture funds and automatic extensions of rental contracts in specified circumstances. El País reported that Podemos has said it will support both decrees, while the positions of Junts and PNV remain decisive.
Housing pressure has drawn wider attention. An earlier housing report said Spain's supply shortfall is set to pass one million homes.
This campaign centres on one legislative chance. The unions want the approved measures kept together and a rule that gives tenants greater continuity in their homes. El País and other Spanish outlets have described the vote as a close parliamentary test for the government.
The Confederación de Sindicatos de Inquilinas does not present the decrees as a complete answer. It says the measures cannot undo decades of policies that turned housing into a business. The group argues that recent protests have opened an unusual chance to change the rules of the market.
Its demands extend beyond the current texts, including stronger long-term protection against displacement and more stability for renters.
The campaign will continue after the vote.
Twenty-two mobilisations have been confirmed for Saturday and Sunday. They are planned in Madrid, Valencia, Cádiz, Sevilla, Palma, Guadalajara, Girona, Zaragoza, San Sebastián, Vitoria, Pamplona, Huelva, Granada, Valladolid, A Coruña, Toledo, Vigo, Bilbao, Logroño and Murcia.
The unions want to sustain the pressure and are also working towards a general strike focused on housing.
In L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, organisers had already planned a protest with a column coming from Barcelona. It was intended to remember Olga, the neighbour who took her own life after her eviction. The unions now want the march to call for a wider right to housing and to prevent anyone else from facing a similar situation.
Friday's vote is another test for the government, while the dispute will continue.
By dividing the measures, the government gave parliamentary groups separate points on which to act. The unions have linked automatic contract renewal to family stability. Their plan is direct: pressure lawmakers before Friday, then sustain demonstrations and build towards a general housing strike.
Congress will decide the next step. The campaign has taken the issue from ministerial decrees to organised action in cities across Spain. Tenant unions are challenging how political parties handle housing and want rental security treated as a priority.
