More than 20,000 people, 22,000 according to data from the Government Delegation, demonstrated this Sunday against the pupil rental price in Spain. The demonstrators are demanding a reduction in rent prices and, if this is not obtained, they are threatening to go on a “strike” for non-payment, that is to say, to stop paying the monthly payments to landlords. Behind the mobilization are 40 left-wing associations and political parties.
The slogans of the demonstration were Housing is a right, not a business And It’s over. Let’s lower the rents. Organizers included platforms such as Affected by Metro Line 7B, Affected by public and social housing (PAVPS) and Affected by mortgage (PAH).
The participants in the march not only filed complaints against the ownersbut also against socialist executive. During the march, proclamations were heard such as The housing law is bullshit; We do not tolerate further eviction either at the bottom of the renter, at the top of the tenant.
The route of the demonstrators moved from Plaza del Emperador Carlos V to Madrid Avenue Gran Via. With this mobilization, according to its organizers, the objective is to begin “a process of social mobilization broader and more sustainable over time” in the field of housing.
The spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants Union, Valerie Racuwarns that if rent prices continue to rise, tenants they could stop paying.
Racu expressed that there would not be enough resources, such as the police or the intervention of “thugs”, to arrest the people who participated in the mobilization. The union is looking for a 50% reduction in rent and requested that this action be extended to all districts of Spain, starting October 14.
Rental price with Sánchez
And the price of rent has increased by 28.2% since Pedro Sanchez He is in the government, that is, since 2019, according to real estate portal data Idealistic. The demonstrators this Sunday therefore believe that these increases have been too excessive and want to cancel them.
It is for this reason that the organizers prepared this march in mid-September. The demonstration brought together media from all over Spain, as well as several foreigners. However, no member of the Government He wanted to attend, given that he is at the center of the protests.
Of course, the general secretary of CCOO Madrid, Paloma López Bermejo, was present and, there, instead of referring to the Sánchez government, she addressed the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayusoto ask him to regulate tourist apartments, accusing him of “failing in his duties”.
Representatives of political parties also participated in the demonstration, such as More from Madrid and the PSOEeven though both are part of Sánchez’s government. Rita Maestre, spokesperson for Más Madrid at City Hall, called the demonstration a “turning point” in the fight against the “housing crisis”, which she said is the main problem facing Madrid’s citizens.
