Thousands protest housing crisis across Spain

Tens of thousands of people protested across Spain to demand affordable housing. The protests came after the Spanish parliament narrowly voted down two emergency bills designed to support renters and prevent evictions. According to DW News, the demonstrations were part of a week-long wave of actions that began in response to the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascalin, in Madrid.

The protests took place in Madrid and around 50 other cities. In Madrid, police said around 70,000 people took part in the demonstration, while organizers put the figure closer to 500,000 people. In the eastern city of Valencia, police used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters, and dozens of protesters had managed to get inside Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences before they were ejected by police.

A 26-year-old protester in Madrid was quoted by DW News as saying that "it only proves that it is us the people who have to adapt to the political parties, and not the politicians to what the people want, and this can't go on like that." Valeria Racu, one of the spokespeople of the Tenants Union organizing the protest, said that "what we are feeling in the streets is a new energy that we haven't seen in a long time, and energy that is showing that eight days of people's power can achieve more than eight years of progressive government." According to Le Monde English, the eviction of the 87-year-old woman followed a 275% rent increase.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, Punch Nigeria, DW News, DW English (Top Stories), Le Monde English — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.