Spanish Lawmakers Reject Eviction Freeze, Spurring Calls for Early Elections

The government had proposed more protections for tenants after outrage at the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid.

VideoSpanish Lawmakers Vote Down Eviction Freeze0:47

Reporting from Madrid

Oct. 2, 2026Leer en español

The Spanish Parliament on Friday voted down housing legislation proposed by the left-wing government to increase tenant protections, deepening a political crisis and prompting calls for early elections.

The legislation, which would have suspended evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, was proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling coalition to address protests and outrage spurred by the eviction of María del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old resident of Madrid.

But the coalition, which does not control a majority of lawmakers, failed to pass the law after a small Catalan party, which sometimes sides with the government, pulled its support hours before the parliamentary vote.

That party, Junts, said late Thursday night that it wanted the legislation to be withdrawn and redrafted because the bill as written would “reduce the supply of rental housing and increase prices.”

The failure of the vote led to demands for snap elections from within Mr. Sánchez’ Socialist Party, which has been rocked by an immigration crisis and corruption scandals and is looking for an issue to galvanize its base.

Housing is a major concern for Spaniards, especially young people with low salaries who increasingly find it hard to find affordable homes amid rising rents caused by an influx of tourists, immigrants, wealthy foreign buyers and a lack of public units.

Those frustrations have boiled over since the eviction last month of Ms. Abascal from her home of 70 years, which prompted protesters demanding a housing overhaul to camp out in Puerta del Sol square, in central Madrid. They have remained even after Ms. Abascal’s eviction was reversed.

The rejected housing package included tax breaks for landlords who lowered rents, temporary bans on real estate acquisitions by investment funds — called “vulture funds” by critics — and a mix of regulations and taxes on short-term rentals used by tourists.

“There is a very ample consensus about what the solutions to the project are,” Isabel Rodríguez, Spain’s housing minister, said in Parliament before the vote on Friday. She also made a last-minute appeal to Junts, saying the bill included “90 percent” of their demands.

“It’s the moment of truth,” she added.

Real estate and homeowner associations had sought to convince Junts that the legislation was unfair and potentially disastrous. Critics also said that the bill would do little to help Spaniards find new homes, even if it temporarily eased pressure on renters with existing contracts.

Analysts said Junts’s rejection of the bill may have had less to do with the legislation’s substance than with unrelated political concerns. Junts, which campaigns for Catalan independence, has long sought leverage to secure the return from exile of its leader Carles Puigdemont, who escaped to Belgium to avoid arrest after he led a push for independence in 2017.

Mr. Sánchez, who is facing elections next year and is perpetually seeking issues to rally and mobilize his left-wing base, seized on Junts’s decision. In a statement, his government lumped the Catalan party in with the conservative opposition, including the far-right party Vox, and said the time had come for them to “show their true colors.”

Jason Horowitz is the Madrid bureau chief for The Times, covering Spain, Portugal and the way people live throughout Europe.

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