It started last week with the eviction of an elderly woman in the center of Madrid. She was rolled out of her home on a stretcher, where she had lived for 70 years, but could no longer stay due to a rent increase.
Maricarmen became the symbol of the Spanish housing crisis that mobilized people en masse to take to the streets. And now hundreds of people are camping in tents at Puerta del Sol, one of the most famous squares in the Spanish capital.
Today the government can take a first step towards a solution with a decree.
All summer it hardly rained in Madrid, but last night the weather changed. A setback for the people demonstrating in their tents. But they do not let themselves be stopped; above the tents, tarps are stretched, provisionally tied together with umbrellas and in some places held up high with sticks. At the edge of the tent camp stands Armand. With his friends, he is setting up yet another tent.
"We will sleep here tonight," he says. The twenty-something has now lived in Madrid for five years. "In the meantime, I have had to live in four different houses." He is happy to have a roof over his head, but the situation he is in now is anything but ideal. "For example, the windows in my house do not close properly. It is very cold in winter. I pay 445 euros for rent without utilities."
He is 28 and lives with housemates, like almost everyone his age. "I would like to build something for myself, without financial stress."
Although the demonstrations may have been sparked by an older woman, it is mainly young people who are camping at Puerta del Sol. It is that generation that is hardest hit, says Lucia, who is a member of the tenants' union. "But it is a problem that affects the whole society."
People can write a letter for Maricarmen, which the union will bring to the hospital where the woman has been staying since her eviction.
Yesterday the owner of the apartment and Maricarmen's lawyer reached an agreement, allowing her to return to her home. For the demonstrators, that will change little: the genie is out of the bottle.
Especially left-wing groups are at the square. From the feminist movement to the young socialists and people from animal welfare organizations. The banners carry various slogans, not only about the housing crisis but also about healthcare and education.
In front of the regional government building at the square, a feminist activist group sings a song about the right to abortion.
On a small chair in front of a tent sits Martha Cecilia. She is disabled and receives about five hundred euros a month from the state. "For four years I was homeless and slept at the airport," she says. Now a house has been arranged for her, but it is still difficult.
"I sleep on the floor. There is no refrigerator, washing machine, or kitchen," she says. "It is four walls and a roof, that's what it is." She says she wrote to the regional president about her situation but never received a response.
She is not the only one who feels abandoned by politics. Also in cities like Barcelona, Seville, and Malaga, people are calling attention to the problems in the housing market. Whether the protests will grow larger depends mainly on a decree that can be approved by the council of ministers today.
Decree
The decree is meant to be a start in tackling the housing crisis. It should prevent evictions, make rental contracts more stable, and protect the position of tenants. It also looks at stricter rules for investment funds and holiday rentals.
These are measures that are viewed positively, but they do not seem to solve the structural problem: the shortage of affordable housing.