How did Spain's housing crisis get so bad it forced the PM to call a snap election?

How did Spain's housing crisis get so bad it forced the PM to call a snap election?

Pedro Sánchez, a socialist, has made housing centre of campaign but polls point to right-wing victory

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election on Oct. 5 amid unprecedented nationwide demonstrations over housing affordability.

The election, scheduled for Nov. 29, will bring Sánchez's parliamentary term to an end six months early, marking a bold political gamble by a prime minister known for taking risks.

The announcement followed the government's failure to secure parliamentary support for two proposed measures designed to address Spain's housing crisis. But a day after calling the election, the government approved the two decrees with some modifications. They include capping rents, a temporary ban on evictions and restricting companies from buying homes.

"It is only now, with protests and unrest spreading across Spain, that they have started paying attention to social housing and to the question of where people in this country can afford to live," said Sofía Olivares, 25, a student and spokesperson for housing advocacy group Derecho al Techo (Right to Housing).

While polls point to a right-wing victory, Sánchez is betting that the housing crisis will give him the political momentum needed to secure a parliamentary majority. Since becoming prime minister in 2018, he has had to rely on support from other parties to govern, as his socialist party has never held a majority in parliament.

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By making housing affordability the centrepiece of his campaign, Sánchez hopes to unite progressive voters while deflecting attention from other pressing political vulnerabilities. Chief among these are corruption investigations targeting his inner circle and the ongoing crisis in Ceuta.

This past summer, an influx of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco reached the Spanish enclave. While most have since returned, thousands remain on the streets or in makeshift camps, overwhelming local infrastructure and fuelling calls from the right for stricter migration controls.

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Protests follow eviction, death of senior

The housing demonstrations erupted following the forced eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, who became a national symbol of the crisis before her death on Oct. 7.

In Madrid, protesters camped outside in scenes reminiscent of the Indignados, or 15-M, movement in 2011, an uprising that reshaped Spanish politics by breaking up the two-party monopoly and giving rise to smaller political parties.

María del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, 87, waits for police to arrive before being evicted from her home in Madrid on Sept. 23. She died on Oct. 7. (Fernando Sánchez/Europa Press/The Associated Press)

In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, part of the Spanish archipelago off the west coast of Africa and one of Spain's most popular tourist destinations, residents have also taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest over housing.

Olivares, of Derecho al Techo, blames the regional government for placing tourism above housing. "It constantly holds back housing policies to prioritize tourism," she said, arguing that limited land and a lack of rent controls have further worsened the crisis.

Over the past year, families across the Canary Islands — one of Spain's poorest regions, where almost 30 per cent of people are at risk of poverty — have faced dozens of evictions. This week alone, the housing group has supported more than nine families facing eviction.

Sofía Olivares, right, of the housing advocacy group Derecho al Techo is shown at a protest to stop the eviction of eight families, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, on Oct. 7. (Sonia Håkansson Rivero)

"Property funds buy the buildings they live in, refuse to renew their contracts and throw them out onto the street,” Olivares said, adding that promises to rehouse tenants are often broken.

The lack of public housing is another major concern. "We've also been about 10 years without any type of social housing being built in the Canary Islands," she said, adding that more than 30,000 people in the islands alone are on waiting lists for public housing.

Social housing accounts for about 1.7 per cent of Spain's housing stock, well below the level in most European Union countries. The Bank of Spain estimates that the country currently lacks about 750,000 homes, a deficit expected to exceed one million by 2028.

Demonstrators calling for a change in the tourism model in the Canary Islands gather in front of beachfront tourist accommodations in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on May 18, 2025. (Borja Suarez/Reuters)

Right-wing parties expected to win: polls

Right-wing parties have argued that Sánchez's relatively open approach to migration is placing pressure on Spain’s housing market.

Unlike many European leaders, Sánchez has argued that migration is necessary to sustain economic growth. Earlier this year, his government also launched a sweeping regularization program aimed at integrating hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers into the formal economy.

Polling points to a conservative coalition led by the People’s Party, alongside the anti-immigration party Vox, as the most likely outcome of next month's election. Such a result would bring the far right into Spain's national government for the first time since the country's transition to democracy in 1975, following Francisco Franco's dictatorship.

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The People's Party warns that the rent caps proposed by Sánchez will backfire by driving homes off the market. The government's measures also largely failed to win the support of the real estate industry, which says they don't address the root cause of the problem: Spain’s structural housing shortage.

"We are trying to address a supply crisis without sufficiently increasing supply," said María Matos, head of research and a spokesperson at Fotocasa, one of Spain's leading real estate platforms.

"By focusing on regulating properties, rental contracts and landlords, we risk making it even harder to bring homes on to the market."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is shown at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid on Oct. 6. He has argued that migration is necessary to sustain economic growth. (Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press)

Fotocasa's latest data suggests landlords may already be responding to new housing measures. "In just eight days, long-term rental supply fell by 4.2 per cent,” Matos said. She warns that "measures designed to protect tenants can end up creating barriers for those still trying to find a home."

She also called for greater investment in public housing. "Since 2013, the development of new social housing has practically come to a standstill, forcing more households to compete in the private market."

Matos said she wants more land to be made available for development, alongside faster planning approvals. "We need to unlock public and private land, and speed up building permits to prevent projects from being delayed for years."

A man sleeps on a street near a protest calling for political action to address Spain's housing crisis, in Barcelona on Oct. 6. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Garazi González, 36, who now lives with her partner and their baby in an apartment building belonging to his family, said she has experienced the affordability crisis first-hand and supports the protests "100 per cent."

Four years ago, after renting an apartment in central Madrid for eight years, she saw her monthly rent rise from 800 to 950 euros (about $1,275 to $1,500 Cdn). Her landlady then proposed raising it to 1,500 euros ($2,400 Cdn).

"She said prices in the area had gone up and she couldn't keep charging me so little. She gave me just one month to leave," González said.

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"I know people whose rents were raised to push them out, or who live in fear of being evicted from homes they've lived in for years. Others live in gentrified areas where vulture funds buy entire buildings and kick everyone out."

Despite her disappointment with the current government, González said preventing the far right from returning to power is now her biggest priority.

"I'm not entirely happy with the left because they haven't done enough on housing or other issues,” she said. "But I want to prevent fascism from coming back. I care about protecting social rights.... As a woman and a mother to a daughter, I worry deeply about her future."

Renée Boskaljon is a Dutch independent journalist specializing in EU migration policy and Moroccan society. She lived in Morocco for several years. She writes for a range of European news outlets, including The Guardian, and regularly provides expert commentary on migration affairs for broadcasters such as the BBC. She is currently based in the Canary Islands, Spain.