Overview
- The Madrid march on Sunday, May 24, organised by the Sindicato de Inquilinas with backing from UGT and CCOO, launched a planned wave of protests across dozens of Spanish cities through late June.
- Protesters presented clear policy demands: restore indefinite rental contracts, cut rents, raise wages and minimum pensions to €1,500, and some organisers urged tenant disobedience and moves toward a general strike.
- Attendance figures are contested with organisers citing about 100,000 participants and the central government’s regional delegation estimating roughly 23,000, highlighting a political dispute over the scale of the mobilisation.
- Market data and official estimates show deep structural pressure on supply: the Bank of Spain calculates a shortfall of about 700,000 homes for 2021–2025 and reports show record competition per listing and rising waits for protected housing.
- Government measures include recently announced public-housing funds and investment plans but unions and activists say the pace and scale are insufficient, a gap that is increasing voter pressure ahead of the next national election and worsening young people’s ability to leave home.