Thousands of people, convened by the Tenants’ Union, took to the streets of Spain’s main cities on Saturday to demand solutions to the housing crisis and with their sights set on calling a general strike.

In Madrid, where an encampment is located in Puerta del Sol, the protest was the flagship demonstration. The march filled Plaza de Cibeles, where the four columns of the demonstration converged. Organizers counted 500,000 attendees, while the Government Delegation put the figure at 70,000.

The Madrid march, one of more than 50 demonstrations held Saturday in different cities, was led by a banner reading “Towards the general strike.”

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Chants included “Houses without people, people without houses!” and “Rentiers guilty, government responsible!” along with shouts against vulture funds and evictions. The protests also featured the massive sound of keys and numerous banners demanding decent and affordable housing. Demonstrators called for other measures, including a 50% reduction in rents, indefinite contracts and the expropriation of homes from the so-called vulture funds.

Valeria Racu, spokesperson for the Tenants’ Union, said the mobilization was thanks to Maricarmen, “her bravery and example” that had “sparked the flame.” She was referring to the elderly Madrid woman evicted on September 23 from her home, to which she will finally return after accepting the agreement between the union and Urbagestión, the company that owns the property.

“Yesterday we confirmed that we have a Congress kidnapped by rentism. A Congress totally separated from the reality of the streets, from that social majority, from that consensus that exists among our entire population that rentism is a scourge on our society and that we must put an end to it,” Racu said.

Meanwhile, in Puerta del Sol, the encampment for the right to decent housing continues. Those gathered there face the seventh day of protests.

From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.