---
title: "Spain’s Parliament Rejects Housing Decrees as Protests Spread"
description: "The defeat of two emergency measures is a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority government and fuels talk of a snap election."
author: "rews desk"
published: 2026-10-04T10:16:49Z
modified: 2026-10-04T13:03:13Z
url: https://rews.cc/a/spain-s-parliament-rejects-housing-decrees-as-protests-sprea-c71ab5
language: en
tags: ["housing", "protests", "politics", "economy", "europe"]
publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)"
---

# Spain’s Parliament Rejects Housing Decrees as Protests Spread

*The defeat of two emergency measures is a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority government and fuels talk of a snap election.*

By rews desk · October 4, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/spain-s-parliament-rejects-housing-decrees-as-protests-sprea-c71ab5

## In brief

- Spain’s Congress on Friday rejected two emergency housing decrees, by 178 votes to 172 and 184 to 166
- Tens of thousands have protested; one journalist put the crowds at around 500,000, the largest since 2011
- The protests followed the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, who has since won a new lease on her home
- The defeat adds pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap election

Tens of thousands of people have rallied across Spain since Friday, when the conservative-dominated parliament voted down two emergency decrees meant to address the country’s housing crisis, Al Jazeera reported.

The decree-laws, put forward by the minority left-wing coalition of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, failed in Congress [by votes of 178 to 172 and 184 to 166](https://newscord.org/article/spanish-parliament-rejects-two-emergency-housing-decree-laws-defeating-pedro-snc--Story_20261002_Spanishlawmakerstoho95105ce3). The government had introduced them in response to nationwide protests over the housing crisis, [the BBC reported](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c623dlk4y75mo).

The demonstrations have only grown since the vote. Jaime Velazquez, a Spanish freelance journalist, [estimated the crowds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EGcPMffQ-8) at around 500,000 in Madrid and other cities and called the movement the largest since the Indignados protests of 2011, which broke the dominance of the country’s two established parties.

The protests took off after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, from her Madrid home drew outrage across Europe. Her landlord has since [agreed to let her return](https://rews.cc/a/evicted-madrid-pensioner-87-to-return-home-under-new-lease-6fce7c) under a lease capping her rent at its pre-eviction level for eight years, but the movement has outlasted her case.

The twin defeats increase the pressure on Mr. Sánchez to call a snap election, according to the BBC. Protesters, for now, have promised to stay in the streets.