Protesters vow to stay in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol as housing camp puts pressure on government

Around 100 tents were pitched in the city centre square after a protest march on Saturday. The first night passed peacefully, with no incidents reported, although some campers said they had barely slept. More people, including families, joined them on Sunday as the Madrid Tenants’ Union organised assemblies and called for supplies of sleeping bags, mats, food and water.

The protesters say they will stay until there is meaningful action on rents and evictions. Their demand is directed squarely at Spain’s government ahead of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says he is working to bring forward a new housing decree. One slogan captures the camp’s impatience: ‘Either the rental system falls, or the government falls.’ ALSO READ: Spanish government pushes for new housing decree after eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen.

An eviction that brought protesters into the square

The camp grew out of Saturday’s march through central Madrid. The government’s delegation estimated attendance at 25,000, while the Madrid Tenants’ Union, which organised the protest, put it at 300,000. Demonstrations under the slogan ‘Not one more Maricarmen’ were also called in around 40 cities.

Marchers rattled keys, blew whistles and carried signs reading ‘You could be the next Maricarmen’ and ‘We want to see Maricarmen return’. Other placards challenged both the Madrid regional authorities and the national government, including one asking: ‘Where is the progressive government?’

Maricarmen was evicted on Wednesday from the rented flat in Madrid’s Retiro district where she had lived for more than 70 years. Police broke down the door, and she was carried out on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance while supporters chanted her nickname. Images of her removal spread widely, making her case a focus for anger over rising rents, insecure tenancies and the shortage of affordable homes.

From hospital, Maricarmen urged people to join Saturday’s demonstration. ‘I want what has happened to me to serve so that it does not happen to other people,’ she said in a video shared by the tenants’ union. ‘I want it to encourage people to fight and to help change the laws that have allowed me to be evicted.’

‘We will remain here’

For those camping in Sol, the protest is intended to continue beyond a single weekend. Union spokesperson Alicia del Río said the wave of anger following Abascal’s eviction was ‘now unstoppable’ and that demonstrators would remain until the government introduced measures capable of preventing similar cases. The union is seeking stronger protection against eviction, rent controls and indefinite rental contracts.

Another union spokesperson, Gonzalo Álvarez, who spent the night in the square, described sleeping outdoors as difficult but said the camp was filled with ‘hope, anticipation and a desire to change everything’. Housing, he argued, should be treated as an essential need rather than a financial asset.

Álvarez said Maricarmen’s treatment had ‘lit the spark’. He called for the decree to include a freeze on rents and warned that, if the government failed to act on Tuesday, left-wing parties such as its coalition partner Sumar should be prepared to bring it down.

That anger is directed at more than one party. Saturday’s march included criticism of Madrid’s right-wing regional government, the People’s Party (PP), as well as Sánchez’s socialist (PSOE)-led administration. Protesters are demanding an end to evictions where no alternative housing is available and measures to tackle abuses in the rental market. ALSO READ: Opposition steps up pressure on Ayuso government over €6.3 million penthouse purchase.

The square’s history adds weight to the choice of location. Fifteen years ago, Puerta del Sol became the centre of the 15-M or indignados movement, whose protesters camped there amid anger over unemployment, austerity, corruption and evictions. Former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias said he hoped the new camp would last and spread to squares across Spain, arguing that a decree alone would not resolve the housing crisis. He called Maricarmen ‘our Rosa Parks’: a person whose treatment had come to symbolise a wider injustice.

Sánchez promises a decree, but its contents remain contested

Speaking at a PSOE party event in Getafe on Sunday, Sánchez said he had heard Maricarmen’s appeal for a measure she called the ‘Maricarmen decree’. He addressed her directly: ‘Maricarmen, I have a message for you. The government is working against the clock to bring the next housing decree to Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.’

The prime minister asked parliamentary groups to make ‘one last effort’ to secure its approval in Congress, adding: ‘It is not a question of ideology, it is a question of humanity.’ His government does not have a parliamentary majority, and the decree would need support beyond the coalition to remain in force. ALSO READ: Spanish government delays major housing decree until autumn amid political deadlock.

What the measure will contain is now the subject of intense pressure from the camp and from political parties. Sumar has warned against limited or cosmetic changes and has threatened not to attend Tuesday’s cabinet meeting unless the proposal is strong enough. Deputy prime minister Yolanda Díaz welcomed the camp and said: ‘Just any decree will not do.’ She called for action against the investment funds that campaigners accuse of buying up homes and driving tenants out.

Podemos wants the government to go further. Irene Montero criticised its talks with the Catalan Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) party and called for legally mandated rent reductions and the expropriation of homes held by large investment funds for use as social housing. Podemos leader Ione Belarra said her party would press for the strongest possible decree, while arguing that legislation on its own would not solve the problem without continued public mobilisation.

JxCat and the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) have signalled that a deal may be possible, but each has set conditions. JxCat secretary general Jordi Turull said his party would support measures to curb large investment funds, provided they did not penalise small landlords; he also called for tax incentives for property owners. PNV leader Aitor Esteban urged the parties to find common ground rather than insist on every part of their own programmes.

The demand for Maricarmen to return home

For Maricarmen’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, a national decree is only part of what needs to happen. Speaking from Puerta del Sol, she described the eviction as ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ and said Maricarmen should be able to return to her flat: ‘It is the only real alternative.’

Madrid City Council has proposed mediation between the property company, Urbagestión, and Maricarmen’s representatives. Duro said she hoped the process would be genuine, ‘not just an exercise in image management’. She also argued that public debate has spent years concentrating on squatting when the deeper problem is access to housing.

Maricarmen’s father first rented the flat in 1956, according to reports, and she remained there after her parents died. The building changed hands in 2018. The tenants’ union says Urbagestión later sought to raise her monthly rent from €500 to €2,650, before reducing its demand to €1,650 — still beyond what she could afford on her pension.

Her case has brought a wider housing shortage into sharp focus. Rents in Madrid have risen steeply over the past decade, while Spain has a small stock of subsidised public rental homes. Population growth and demand linked to tourism have added pressure in major cities. Those broader problems will not be settled at one cabinet meeting. For the people in Puerta del Sol, however, Tuesday will show whether the government is prepared to begin addressing them — and whether the camp continues. ALSO READ: Thousands rally in Madrid against spiralling rents and housing shortages.