1 Spanish Renters Riot over Housing Issues
Madrid, September: the eviction and subsequent death of an 87-year-old woman led to property riots and has brought the Spanish general election forward to November this year.
The catalyst: Wednesday 23 September 2026.
Riots erupted when social media pictures went viral of the Spanish police forcibly evicting 87-year-old Maria del Carmen Abascal (‘Mariacarmen’) from the flat she had occupied for 70 years. Her flat had changed ownership and she could not afford her new landlord’s proposed rent increase from about 500 to 2650 euros per month. Despite offers to pay her rent and the involvement of Amnesty International, she was evicted, collapsed and was taken to hospital.
Mariacarmen’s eviction catalysed an already febrile situation.
The Madrid Tenants’ Union organised a protest march for September 26th. According to their figures, over 300,000 took part (25,000 according to the government).
This came on top of protest marches across Spain on 2 September involving between 40-120000 people and led by conservative opposition parties. This was prompted by the influx of thousands of illegal Moroccan migrants in Ceuta.
Spanish Protesters in Madrid were joined by hundreds of members, from at least 20 different countries, of the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing. They had come to Madrid for 24th September for the annual World Summit of The District, ‘the largest European congress in…the Real Estate Sector’ (The District’s website).
Sadly, although Mariacarmen was subsequently granted permission to return home to resume the tenancy she had inherited from her mother, her death was announced on 7 October.
Mariacarmen’s tragedy has precipitated major debate on housing and a general election.
Spain’s Housing Crisis
With no equivalent of the UK Renter’s Rights Act, protesters are facing:
• Rising Prices
Buying: quarter 2 2026 12.2% rise in prices according to the National Statistics Institute. Existing properties rose by 12.9%: newbuilds by 7.4%.
Renting: in August 2026, rent reached 15.1 euros per square metre. 28.1% of Spaniards are paying 40% of their income on rent compared to 19.2% in the rest of the EU.
• ‘Vulture REITs’
Only 39% of rental homes are owned by landlords with just one property (according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with the CSIC).
61% belongs to owners with 2+ letting properties, public bodies and ‘legal entities’ including companies and funds; protesters have nick-named REITs ‘Vulture Funds’. In lucrative areas, these ‘multi-landlords’ account for higher percentages of properties: 60.8% in Barcelona, 56.4% in Madrid and 55% in Valencia.
According to Progressive International, housing has become ‘a lucrative business for rentiers, vulture funds and banks – groups with close ties to the right and far right, accustomed to controlling the agenda’ aggravate the issue by reducing supply and putting up prices.
This has accounted for the astonishing rent hikes that reduced Mariacarmen to eviction.
• Social Housing
Spain’s stock of social housing is small and there is no real safety net for low- and middle-income renters. According to the latest bulletin from the Ministry of Housing, there are barely 318,000 social housing units in Spain, representing 1.3% [1.6% according to other sources] of the total number of flats available. According to the OECD, in the Netherlands, 34% of the housing stock is allocated to social housing. It is followed by Austria (24%), Denmark (21%), the United Kingdom (16%) and France (14%).
• The Construction Crash
A construction boom crashed in 2008 leading to a collapse in banking, developers and construction companies. Construction has been slow to recover, with a major shortfall in popular areas. This is exacerbated by the time-consuming process of obtaining land, finance (not forgetting the soaring cost of labour and materials), planning permits and construction.
• Population Growth and immigration
Approaching 50 million inhabitants, Spain’s population growth is propelled mainly by immigration. The number of households needed is, as everywhere, aggravated by young people wanting to move out; divorce; movement between cities for work.
The arrival of thousands of Moroccan migrants in Ceuta prompted protest a huge protest march on September 2 led by Spain’s conservative parties.
• Tourism and Foreign Buyers
Tourist/holiday lets reduced available rental supply.
Foreign buyers accounted for nearly 16% of house purchases in Q2 of 2206, with over 30% of these in each of the Balearic Islands and Valencia region.
• Regional Variations
Pressure is particularly high in major cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma (the capital, the coast, urban and tourist areas). In other areas, with fewer jobs and lower tourism, property is lying empty.
• Falling Wages
As across Europe, inflation is making earnings inadequate while the factors above are pushing up property and rental prices in the areas people most need to live.
Scandal
The rioting follows a series of property and rent-related scandals over the summer of 2026.
1 Madrid’s regional government purchased a luxury 6.3 million Euro penthouse, rumoured to be a residence for their regional premier Isabel Diaz Ayuso. Investigations into possible misuse of public funds are in progress.
2 Public housing in Alicante was allocated to high-ranking officials from the conservative opposition PP (People’s Party), the city council (including the officer in charge of urban planning), their relatives and friends. Investigations into malfeasance, insider trading and political corruption have been launched
3 Olga Matute, 54, committed suicide following her eviction from her home in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat in early September.
Sanchez’s Solutions
In response to the riots, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, leader of the left-wing PSOE, proposed a series of measures.
• A ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030;
• Bans on “vulture funds” buying property until 2028;
• Regulation of temporary leases and room rentals;
• A two-year extension on rental agreements due to expire before the end of 2028;
• A VAT rate increase to 10% for tourist apartments, as well as a hike in the property tax for such dwellings;
• Zero-interest loans of up to €50,000 for the purchase of a first home;
• Tax breaks for landlords and tenants to encourage a drop in rental prices;
• A VAT rate reduction to 4% for housing construction;
• Automatic renewal of rental agreements (with compensation of at least 12 months’ rent if a landlord terminates a contract without just cause).
Conclusion
The conservative opposition parties are rejecting Sanchez’s measures.
Further rioting is threatened.
Sanchez has brought forward the date of the general election by 3-4 months to November 29th this year.
It could prove a very shrewd move for Sanchez and the PSOE – although holes in infrastructure as demonstrated by the recent, tragic, train crash have made the political situation very volatile indeed.