Spain’s Sanchez urges parliament to back urgent housing measures

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday urged parliamentary parties to support urgent measures to ease the country’s housing crisis, citing the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her longtime Madrid home.

Speaking at the 2026 Premios Vanguardia awards, Sanchez said the government would submit a royal decree-law containing emergency housing measures to the Council of Ministers.

“Patriotism is also preventing an 87-year-old woman, who has spent 70 years faithfully paying her rent in the same home, in the same neighbourhood, from ending up on the street after a lifetime in that house,” he said.

The prime minister said the package had been prepared through dialogue and negotiations, incorporating proposals from political parties willing to participate. He called on parliamentary groups to make a “final effort” to secure its approval in Congress “with a sense of state and responsibility”.

“Behind every measure, there is something much more important than any political calculation,” Sanchez said. “There are people, households and lives, and protecting them is simply not an ideological issue, but a question of humanity.”

Protests continue in Madrid

His comments came as around 600 people continued camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Monday following the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal.

Abascal receives a monthly pension of €1,400 ($1,591) and had continued paying her longstanding rent and bills, which totalled about €500 a month. A property company that bought the home in 2018 later sought to raise her rent to €2,650, before reducing its demand to €1,650 during negotiations.

Police evicted her on Wednesday despite protests aimed at preventing her removal, according to the BBC.

Tenants seek stronger protections

The Madrid Tenants’ Union is calling for measures including indefinite rental contracts, controls on rent increases and stronger protections against evictions.

The government has been working urgently to reach agreement on a housing package after previous legislation failed to pass parliament in July.