Thousands of people crowded Puerta del Sol in Madrid on Monday for the third night of an encampment demanding the right to housing, despite afternoon rain that did not dilute the protest.
Although rain forecasts for central Madrid came true during the afternoon, the influx of demonstrators kept growing. With a truce in the rain around 8 p.m., thousands of campers came out from under improvised awnings and tarps, while many others arrived to set up new tents, until the square was full.
Shouting “We’re not leaving, we’re staying,” chanted in unison by several hundred campers, demonstrators prepared for the third night with the unknown of whether the housing decree will pass this Tuesday and whether the encampment will be lifted or continue. Other slogans chanted as night fell included “The people united will never be defeated,” “Where is the progressive government,” “Maricarmen you are not alone” and “We’re not moving from here.”
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In statements to local media, Fina Parra, one of the spokespersons for the Tenants’ Union in Madrid, made clear that the goal is not a decree “nor a half-baked law,” but something that “really stops the bleeding of evictions.” She recalled that the union has been working in Madrid for a decade to stop evictions. “Maricarmen has also been in the struggle for many years and this has been the last straw because it has touched all our hearts,” she said. “The situation is truly overwhelming because of the people coming to Sol; the housing issue affects many people of different ages and different situations, regardless of social class, age. It cuts across all of us.”
Half a thousand people had been at the encampment throughout the morning, the spokesperson said. Throughout the afternoon, there was a steady stream of replacements and new groups set up tents ready to stay for the night. “The idea is to resist; the ball is in the Government’s court. If the PSOE is brave and the decree comes out, we’ll see what the next steps are,” said another person from the union. The full details of the potentially forthcoming decree regulating the home-rental business, announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, remain undisclosed.
Many other Spanish cities are holding demonstrations and encampments this Monday to demand the right to decent housing, call for the approval tomorrow of a decree to end evictions, and protest over the case of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman who was expelled from the home she had lived in for more than 70 years.
#Spain | Despite heavy rain, residents gathered at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and set up tents to demand sweeping housing reforms.
Protesters are calling for an end to evictions, rent increases and housing speculation.#Madrid #HousingRights #HousingCrisis #teleSUREnglish pic.twitter.com/R6TOT0fTKg
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) September 28, 2026
Against the backdrop of the massive movement, Maricarmen’s family, her lawyer, the Madrid Tenants’ Union and Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión SL, the company that owns the apartment from which she was evicted on Wednesday, have reached an agreement so that the 87-year-old woman with a 50% disability can return to her home immediately at a price that does not exceed 30% of her net income. The agreement is pending Maricarmen’s own ratification, sources from Madrid City Hall, which acted as mediator, indicated. This was the result of a meeting held at the Rental Intermediation Service of Madrid City Hall, at the headquarters of the Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS) Madrid, which lasted four and a half hours from shortly after 5:00 p.m. until nearly 9:30 p.m.
Esther Duro, Maricarmen’s lawyer, said that if this ends with Maricarmen entering her home, “this is a historic milestone” because it had never happened before once the eviction had taken place. Carolina Vilariño, spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, stressed that this agreement is “a clear example that union struggle works.”
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