Spain housing crisis: why has Sánchez called a snap election for 29 November 2026?

Short answer: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the election on Monday 5 October, three days after Congress voted down two emergency housing decrees on Friday 2 October. His minority Socialist–Sumar coalition could not pass its main answer to Spain's housing crisis, so he said: "We need to renew people's support." Spain votes on Sunday 29 November 2026.

What happened, in order

• Wed 23 September: An 87-year-old pensioner, known in Spain as Maricarmen, is evicted from her flat in Madrid's Retiro district in a televised operation. It was the police's fourth attempt. She had lived there for more than 70 years on a rent-controlled lease her father signed in the 1950s. A real estate firm bought the building in 2018 and sought to end the lease. Thousands marched in Madrid within hours, and a protest camp went up in Puerta del Sol.
• Fri 2 October: Congress rejects both housing decrees. Junts, the People's Party (PP) and Vox vote no.
• Sat 3 October: The government says more than 70,000 people join a housing march in Madrid.
• Mon 5 October: Sánchez calls the snap election. The two biggest unions, CCOO and UGT, agree to call a 24-hour general strike over housing and wages before polling day. Some reports put it on Wednesday 11 November, but the date had not been confirmed when they announced it.
• Tue 6 October: The cabinet approves two new decrees with 21 measures, including longer protection from eviction and a tax on seasonal rentals. Parliament is dissolved, so a standing committee of Congress will vote on them.
• Early October: The pensioner dies in hospital in Madrid. According to Madrid's tenants' union, it was hours before she was due to sign a new lease that would have let her return home.

What the rejected decrees would have done

• Decree 1: Protect vulnerable families from eviction until 2030. Regulate seasonal and room rentals. Stop investment funds buying homes until 2028. Extend by two years any rental contract ending before 31 December 2028.
• Decree 2: Renew rental contracts automatically when they end. A landlord who wanted a contract to end would pay the tenant 12 months' rent.

What each side says

• Government: Sánchez warned before the vote that failure would do "enormous" damage and that history would judge those who voted no.
• Junts: The decrees would push owners to take homes off the rental market and so raise prices. It called backing them "incomprehensible and irresponsible".
• PP: Leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo asks voters whether they want "four more years" or to "give change a chance". Polls suggest a PP-led government backed by Vox is the most likely result.
• Employers: The employers' group CEOE objects to a general strike over housing, saying housing is not a workplace dispute.

The number behind the anger

Average asking rent in Spain was about €8.20 per square metre in 2016 and about €15.10 in 2026, according to property portal Idealista. That is close to double in ten years.

Over to you

1. When a building is sold, should the new owner be able to end a tenant's decades-old lease, or should long-time tenants be protected?

2. Would automatic renewal of rental contracts protect tenants, or push owners to stop renting, as Junts argues?

3. Will housing decide Spain's 29 November election?

4. Rent is a big worry in Indian cities too. India's Model Tenancy Act, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2021, is a template that states can choose to adopt. Does India need stronger rules for renters, or would that put owners off renting?

Share your view below. If you are a tenant or landlord in India with a rental problem, you can share your case on PetitionFox.