Image by Anastasiia Nelen.

From Puerta del Sol in Madrid, a ray of hope radiates throughout the country. After many years of political compromises and rising costs of living, people have simply had enough. They want to live with dignity.

Origins of the Crisis

María del Carmen Abascal, known widely as Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman, was evicted on September 23rd from her apartment in Retiro Park, a central neighborhood in Madrid. Living on a pension, Maricarmen had limited income, and could not pay the five-fold increase on rent. Due to her ailing health, she was taken out in a stretcher. On October 7th, Maricarmen died in a hospital bed, elevating her to a near martyr status.

There are many Maricarmens in Spain. For example, Olga Matute, a 54-year-old mother of two daughters, was evicted from her apartment in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, and driven to suicide. A 60 year-old shoemaker in the same neighborhood, Javier, killed himself after his landlord gave him a notice. These deaths are a reminder of the pressure put on renters in Spain who, on average, spend 50% of their income on rent.

The roots of Spain’s housing crisis can be traced back to the dictatorship, when Franco prioritized home ownership over regulation of rents. Even after the democratic transition, similar policies persisted. In 2008, when the global economic crisis hit, the vulnerabilities in housing markets were exposed, with mass foreclosures and evictions. The Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (Platform for People affected by Mortages) was created at that time.

Then, in 2011, came the wave of 15M, named for the 15th of May, the first day of a camp in the Puerta del Sol, in the center of Madrid. The movement spread, and camps popped up in other cities with calls for “real democracy” connecting the economic and political crisis. The camp was not evicted, but left voluntarily, and pivoted to neighborhood assemblies focused on housing.

In brief, much of the energy of 15M was channeled into the left political party, Podemos. Despite some early optimism, and promises to address housing in particular, the party could not deliver, and dramatically declined. The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) benefited from the demise and took power. The legislative focus was on mortgage restructuring and bank bailouts, which left the underlying issue of the market unresolved.

Now, large landlords and international vulture funds like Black Rock are buying up housing stock in city centers and converting it into short-term and tourist rentals. In place of homes, there are hotels, The social fabric is being ripped apart, with long term residents forced out to the peripheries or the streets. This is especially the case in major cities like........

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