TPolice clashed with far-right activists at Spain’s housing protests. PM Sanchez may call a snap election after parliament rejected relief measures.
Spanish police arrested three members of a far-right group and fired rubber bullets Saturday night in Madrid after tens of thousands marched across the country demanding action on the housing crisis, a day after Parliament rejected the government’s emergency relief measures. Far-right activists, some performing Nazi salutes, attempted to reach demonstrators camped in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square, according to the Spanish government; demonstrations in roughly 50 other Spanish cities, including Valencia and Barcelona, remained peaceful.
Crowd estimates for Saturday’s Madrid march varied sharply, organizers put the figure at roughly 500,000, while authorities estimated about 70,000. Protesters carried banners reading “Towards the general strike” and “Down with rentierism,” continuing demonstrations sparked by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid apartment she had lived in for decades. The Tenants’ Union, which has organized the protests, is demanding a 50% cut in rents, open-ended rental contracts and the expropriation of properties held by investment funds it calls “vulture funds.” Union spokeswoman Valeria Racu said a general strike remains under negotiation with labor unions but that no date has been set, while Antonio Garamendi, president of Spain’s employers’ confederation CEOE, said he respects the protests but would act against any general strike, which he considers illegal.
The unrest follows Parliament’s Oct. 2 rejection of two government housing decrees, after opposition parties, including the Popular Party, Vox and Together for Catalonia, blocked their ratification. Spanish media reported Friday that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is considering calling a snap general election for Nov. 29, a decision that could hinge on the strength of this weekend’s protests. Vox has blamed the housing crisis on immigration and called for mass deportations, while Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo had announced his party’s opposition to the decrees before their specific measures were even unveiled. An online campaign urging Congress to ratify the measures overwhelmed lawmakers’ inboxes with more than 300,000 emails in the 24 hours before the vote.
This report is based on information from Reuters (via Kathmandu Post and CNBC), Al Jazeera, Euronews and the Associated Press (via Nation.com.pk).