Several hundred people held raucous protests known as ‘caceroladas’ in Madrid and other Spanish cities, calling on MPs to approve measures to tackle a housing crisis in a parliamentary vote on Friday.
Demonstrators rattled keys, blew whistles, banged spoons against pots and chanted slogans in support of the measures in front of Madrid city hall.
In Spain, this type of noisy protest is called a cacerolada, from the Spanish word for ‘sauncepan’ (cacerola).
The package of measures to be put to a parliamentary vote on Friday came after a Madrid pensioner, 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, was evicted from an apartment she had lived in for 70 years, sparking nationwide outrage and demonstrations.
READ MORE: Spain pre-approves six housing crisis measures
Madrid’s city council is controlled by the conservative Popular Party (PP), which has vowed to vote against the package.
Una cacerolada por la vivienda reunió ayer durante una hora a cientos de personas frente al Ayuntamiento de Madrid https://t.co/ixysKnhxYK pic.twitter.com/6JNtqc5V2H
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) October 2, 2026
“This is the time to listen to people on the streets and stop making partisan calculations,” Alicia del Rio spokeswoman for the Madrid Tenants’ Union told journalists.
READ ALSO: ‘I can’t build a future’ – The voices of Spain’s housing camp protesters
Similar protests were held outside town halls in other cities, including Barcelona and Córdoba.
“It’s another way of making our voices heard. Things can’t go on as they are,” Ivan Mantilla Cuenca, a 28-year-old student who banged a wooden spoon against a lid, told AFP in Madrid.
Una ‘cacerolada’ en Cibeles reclama al Congreso que escuche “a la calle” y convalide los decretos de vivienda https://t.co/74Uvy9PreE pic.twitter.com/ve0YvXzItj
— Europa Press (@europapress) October 1, 2026
Parliament is scheduled to vote on a package of measures adopted Tuesday by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government after nationwide protests sparked by Abascal’s eviction.
They include tighter restrictions on evicting tenants deemed vulnerable and ban companies with “speculative” aims from the real estate market until the end of 2028.
READ MORE: What are the main objections to Spain’s proposed housing laws?
But Sánchez’s Socialist-led coalition faces the arduous task of convincing enough parties in a heavily fragmented parliament to approve the decrees.
Sánchez, in power since 2018, urged lawmakers to show “a sense of responsibility” and approve the two decrees.
“Ultimately, I am asking us to put ideology and partisan divisions aside and focus on an issue that is simply about humanity,” he said earlier on Thursday.
Unaffordable housing has been a running sore for years in Spain.
Abascal, who has become a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, is due to return to the flat where she lived under a deal reached Monday with its owner.
