Spain's Housing Protests Unfold Ahead of 29 November Snap Election

Tens of thousands of young people have protested across Spain in recent weeks against the country's acute housing crisis. Spain's biggest unions have called a nationwide walkout under the slogan "Salarios, vivienda y precios," or "wages, housing, and prices."

The demonstrations are unfolding as the country's left-wing coalition government has called a snap election, an early vote held before the scheduled date, for 29 November. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's party trails the conservative People's Party and the far-right Vox in polls, according to Al Jazeera.

Earlier, the government presented two emergency decrees to parliament, measures intended to protect vulnerable renters. Right-wing parties defeated both.

The scale of the shortage is a central point in the debate. The Bank of Spain said the country lacks 750,000 homes, a figure that could rise to 1 million by next year.

The housing pressure has also reached individual households. Al Jazeera reported the case of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old who was forcibly evicted from the Madrid flat where she had lived for seven decades, after her corporate landlord raised the rent beyond what she could afford. She died in hospital on the day the property owners who had evicted her agreed to allow her to return home.

Al Jazeera also spoke to younger renters about their circumstances. Haris Javaid Sharif, 24, a data analyst, lives with his parents, brother and sister in a 44-square-metre rented flat in Barcelona. The family pays $745 a month for it.

In Madrid, Bea Garcia de la Torre, 32, works for a foundation and shares a 70-square-metre flat with her brother. She pays $1,229 a month in rent and earns $2,400 a month.