This Saturday, Valencia joined more than 50 Spanish cities marching for the right to housing. In Madrid, turnout estimates ranged from 70,000, according to the Delegación del Gobierno, to 500,000, according to the Sindicato de Inquilinas (the tenants’ union behind the protests), and the Sol camp had passed its seventh night. And with the government’s housing plans voted down in Congress, there’s even talk of an early general election, though nothing’s been announced yet.
What happened in Valencia on Saturday
On Saturday morning, thousands of people set off from Porta de la Mar and walked through the city centre, many of them young people. The slogan summed up the mood: “Por el derecho a la vivienda. Fuera especuladores y rentistas” — for the right to housing, out with speculators and landlords.
Around 6,000 people took part according to the Delegación del Gobierno, over 50,000 according to organising syndicates.
Why the Palau de les Arts? Because that’s where the Valencia Real Estate Summit 2026, a property investment conference, was taking place. For the organisers, it was the very speculation they were marching against, gathered under one roof.
Then things got tense. At the Palau, a group tore down the security fencing and pushed through the police line, and some made it up to the first-floor terrace. Riot police charged, fired smoke canisters and rubber balls, and cleared them out. Police sources say nine officers were hurt and five people arrested. The rest of the crowd sat down at the roundabout outside for a while before drifting away.
Then came the tents. Around 200 people headed to Plaza del Ayuntamiento for an open assembly, and by the afternoon tents were going up in a circle — about fifteen by early evening, according to EFE. They’ve asked the public to bring water, food, tarps, umbrellas and sun cream, and they want the square to become a permanent space for debate, just like Madrid’s Puerta del Sol.
Why now: two weeks that set this off
It all started with Maricarmen. On 23 September, police evicted María del Carmen Abascal, 87, from the Madrid flat she’d called home for about 70 years. According to the Sindicato de Inquilinas, an investment company had bought the building and pushed her rent from €500 to €2,650 a month. Her story hit a nerve: protests spread to around 40 towns, and a camp went up in Puerta del Sol. The government answered on 29 September with two emergency housing decrees, but on Friday 2 October right-wing parties, joined by Catalan party Junts, voted both down in Congress. The tenant unions’ answer: marches in more than 50 cities the very next day.
What happens next
The camp was still there on Saturday night, and the people in it say they’re staying. Valencia has seen this before: in October 2024, a camp in the same square lasted about a week. Heading into the centre? Best to check the local news first.
A general strike is what the movement wants next. Valencia’s march called for one in November, but there’s no date yet, and the big unions, UGT and CCOO, haven’t signed on.
What Congress threw out. The two decrees would have protected vulnerable households from eviction until 2030, given renters whose contracts end before 2029 an extra two years, put rules on seasonal and room rentals, stopped large investment funds buying homes until 2028 and, in the second text, renewed rental contracts automatically. Tenant unions called it the bare minimum. What they really want: rents cut by half, open-ended contracts, and homes held by fondos buitre (vulture funds) expropriated.
If you rent, nothing has changed for you, because none of those protections came into force. If your contract is ending soon or you’ve had an eviction notice, don’t wait for Congress to sort it out: get advice now.
Whatever happens to the tents in Plaza del Ayuntamiento, housing isn’t leaving the agenda: a general strike, a possible election, and another round in Congress are all on the table. We’ll keep following it and update you as things move.
