A housing protest in Valencia ended with police charges and tear gas after demonstrators breached security at the Palau de les Arts. Conflicting turnout figures from Madrid have added to the dispute over the movement's size.
At the Palau de les Arts, demonstrators broke through a security cordon as the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026 was under way. Some reached the terrace or entered the complex. The confrontation forced hundreds of people to run from the area.
Barricades and other objects were thrown outside the building. Policía Nacional riot officers used batons to push the crowd back and restore the perimeter. ABC News reported that officers also used rubber bullets and tear gas.
The break-in happened fast.
Reports on the immediate aftermath differ: one police-linked account listed five arrests and nine injured officers, while another cited one arrest and nine injured officers. A separate account put the number of injured officers at eight.
A dense cloud of smoke spread around the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. One account said nine police officers were injured, including the head of a riot unit who suffered a broken arm.
The crowd arrived with keys and chants aimed at the Policía and the property forum. Officers stopped a second attempt to enter the Palau. People outside cheered those who came out of the building. They kept chanting against the police.
The first attempt was not the last.
Madrid was dealing with a separate dispute over the size of the same housing movement. Delegación del Gobierno put the capital's turnout at 70,000 people. The Sindicato de Inquilinas claimed 500,000.
Euronews and DW both reported the gap between the official estimate and the organisers' figure. The two numbers describe the same mobilisation in sharply different terms.
The Palau de les Arts was hosting the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026, an investment and property gathering involving representatives of the real-estate market. Reports also named former Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera among the speakers. Compromís and Podemos called for explanations and described the police response as disproportionate, while stressing the right to housing.
Compromís and Podemos have demanded explanations for the police response. They called it disproportionate and defended the right to housing.
The Madrid count was reported earlier as four protest columns moved towards Plaza de Cibeles. Valencia produced different images: keys raised above the crowd, smoke near the arts complex and demonstrators pushed back from the investment event.
Police restored the cordon after the second attempt to enter. The sequence is clear. A housing protest reached the Real Estate Summit 2026. A group entered the Palau de les Arts. Objects were thrown. Riot police used charges, batons and tear gas.
The dispute had reached the doors of an investment forum. The police response then shifted from controlling a crowd to securing the venue.
