Phoenix 24
Street pressure has shifted from rejecting the housing package to demanding its survival.
Madrid
Spain’s Confederation of Tenants Unions has urged Congress to approve both housing decrees adopted by the government, reversing its position less than 24 hours after criticizing the decision to split the measures into separate texts. The organization now argues that the legislation incorporates most of the demands raised during protests triggered by the eviction of 87 year old María del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen.
The unions still oppose dividing the package. Their principal concern is that automatic renewal of rental contracts was placed in a second decree, potentially making that measure easier for Parliament to reject. For tenant organizations, automatic renewal is among the most structural reforms because it directly affects long term security for renters.
The first decree extends protections against evictions until 2030, regulates temporary and room rentals, restricts housing purchases by certain investment funds until 2028 and prolongs contracts due to expire before the end of that year. It also caps rent updates at 2 percent, applies a 10 percent value added tax to tourist apartments and introduces tax benefits aimed at lower income tenants.
The second decree focuses on automatic renewal of leases, with exceptions when landlords or close relatives legitimately need the property or when other exceptional circumstances arise. Landlords who fail to comply with the renewal provisions could be required to compensate tenants with the equivalent of 12 months of rent.
The measures are already temporarily in force, but they must be validated by Congress on Friday, October 2. Parliamentary arithmetic remains uncertain. The Partido Popular and Vox have announced their opposition, while Junts, Podemos and the PNV have not yet definitively confirmed their positions. That uncertainty has made smaller parliamentary groups decisive.
Tenant organizations are now mobilizing specifically around that vote. Demonstrations and coordinated pot banging protests have been called across Spain, while 22 mobilizations were already confirmed for the weekend of October 3 and 4. The movement also continues discussing the possibility of a broader housing strike if political negotiations fail.
The unions acknowledge that emergency legislation cannot reverse decades of housing policy in a few days. Their argument is instead that the current moment represents an unusual opportunity to institutionalize protections that would otherwise remain temporary or politically vulnerable.
The Maricarmen case has therefore evolved beyond one eviction. It has become a test of whether social pressure can convert a symbolic housing conflict into durable parliamentary reform.
Analysis that transcends power.