Article · Money and markets
Spain's parliament scrapped tenant protections running to 2030. Now Sánchez is deciding whether to call an election over it
On 2 October 2026 Spain's Congress, with the votes of PP, Vox, Junts and UPN, joined on the second by PNV and Coalición Canaria, rejected two government housing decrees (172 to 178 and 166 to 184) that capped rent increases at 2 percent until the end of 2027, let tenants extend leases by up to two years and halted evictions of vulnerable tenants until the end of 2030. The next day Madrid saw 70,000 marchers according to the government delegation, or 500,000 according to the tenants' union. According to sources cited by the press, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is weighing a snap election, media point to 29 November, and the PSOE executive meets on 5 October.
In two votes on a single day Spain lost its rent cap and its eviction freeze running to 2030, and the next day Madrid's streets held either 70,000 or half a million people, depending on who did the counting.
Housing is where European politics meets the household budget: when rents rise faster than wages, who pays, the tenant or the landlord, and who decides. In early October 2026 Spain put that fight in the open, because one parliamentary vote did more than strike down specific rules. It may also trigger an early general election.