Spain’s housing crunch fuels protests and shapes agenda of upcoming snap election

On Sept 23, 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was taken from her lifelong Madrid flat on a stretcher after her landlord raised the rent dramatically; she died later, becoming a symbol of Spain’s widening housing emergency. The incident triggered large-scale protests, including a camp at Puerta del Sol, and underscored how rent levels—about €1,170 for a 50-m² apartment in Madrid—now represent roughly half of the average €2,460 monthly salary.

Factors such as tourist-focused short-term rentals, investment-fund acquisitions, and a meagre stock of only around 10,000 social homes for 3.5 million residents exacerbate the shortage. Historically high home-ownership rates are eroding, with more than half of those under 30 renting in 2025. The crisis is a central theme of the snap election called by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for Nov 29, after his coalition’s housing reforms failed in parliament; the Popular Party counters with a construction-boost proposal. Experts warn the situation could turn Spain into a “society of inheritors,” where property ownership depends on parental wealth.