The Guardian and the New York Times reported that María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose forced eviction ignited Spain’s national housing protests, has died in Madrid. Last month she was carried out on a stretcher from the apartment she had lived in for more than 70 years, and the fallout forced the government to adjust housing policy.
Al Jazeera and the BBC report that Spain has seen mass protests in multiple cities after a parliamentary defeat of the housing bill, with tens of thousands taking to the streets over housing costs and affordability. The protests have sparked debate over whether the government will move toward a snap election and will shape the policy trajectory of Spain’s governing coalition and political forces.
The Associated Press reports Spain’s parliament has rejected a package of housing relief measures from the Sanchez government, marking the governing coalition’s most significant legislative defeat in recent months and signaling that the housing affordability issue has risen to a national political question. The vote comes against a backdrop of multi-day housing protests outside parliament.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election for November 29 after his government suffered a crushing defeat on a housing bill that triggered nationwide protests, pushing Europe’s fourth-largest economy into a season of political risk.
According to The Guardian, the forced eviction of an 87-year-old woman from the home she had lived in for seven decades has triggered nationwide protests across Spain’s largest cities. Demonstrators in Madrid and Barcelona are demanding urgent government action on housing affordability and speculative rental practices.