Tens of thousands protest across Spain after parliament rejects housing measures
publishers 27articles 33first reported 2 Oct, 13:30 UTCdeveloping since 2 Oct · 12 editions
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid and cities across Spain on Saturday after parliament rejected emergency measures intended to ease the country’s housing crisis.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority, Socialist-led government presented two decrees on Friday that included a ban on evictions until 2030 and regulation of temporary and room rentals. The conservative People’s Party, the far-right Vox party and the right-wing Catalan separatist party Junts joined forces to defeat both measures. The People’s Party argued that constructing more homes, rather than regulation, was the best way to lower housing costs, while Junts said the proposals would further restrict supply.
Saturday’s rallies took place in Madrid and about 50 other cities, with demonstrators demanding affordable housing and some calling for a general strike. Most protests were peaceful, but police in Valencia used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators after about 30 people entered the City of Arts and Sciences.
The movement was triggered by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid home where she had lived for 70 years. Abascal, who uses a wheelchair, said she could not afford a 230% rent increase sought by the investment fund that owned her apartment. Her case prompted encampments and nationwide demonstrations.
The parliamentary defeat increased pressure on Sánchez’s coalition. People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for an early election, while the Guardian reported that sources told the news site Eldiario.es the Socialists were considering bringing forward a vote currently due next summer. Sánchez’s office did not comment on those reports.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 26 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 27
- Source articles
- 33
- Given to the writer
- 8, 3 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 26 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: The story needs a few details corrected to match the sourcing on Junts, the origin of the protest movement and the reported election deliberations. - "The People’s Party, the far-right Vox party and the Catalan separatist party Junts joined forces to defeat both measures.": The sources describe Junts as a Catalan pro-independence party or right-wing Catalan separatist party; calling it simply 'the Catalan separatist party' omits the sourced ideological qualifier in a way that can misstate the party's description. - "The movement intensified following the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid home where she had lived for 70 years.": The sources say the eviction triggered the movement or that anger boiled over after it, not merely that an existing movement intensified following it. - "People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for an early election, while Spanish media reported that the government was considering bringing forward a vote currently due next summer.": Al Jazeera says Spanish media reported Sánchez would watch the protests before deciding, while the Guardian says sources told Eldiario.es the Socialists were mulling bringing forward next year's elections; the story's wording overstates this as a report about 'the government' considering the move.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Tens of thousands protest across Spain after parliament rejects housing measures
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid and cities across Spain on Saturday after parliament rejected emergency measures intended to ease the country’s housing crisis.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority, Socialist-led government presented two decrees on Friday that included a ban on evictions until 2030 and regulation of temporary and room rentals. The conservative People’s Party, the far-right Vox party and the right-wing Catalan separatist party Junts joined forces to defeat both measures. The People’s Party argued that constructing more homes, rather than regulation, was the best way to lower housing costs, while Junts said the proposals would further restrict supply.
Saturday’s rallies took place in Madrid and about 50 other cities, with demonstrators demanding affordable housing and some calling for a general strike. Most protests were peaceful, but police in Valencia used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators after about 30 people entered the City of Arts and Sciences.
The movement intensifiedwas followingtriggered by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid home where she had lived for 70 years. Abascal, who uses a wheelchair, said she could not afford a 230% rent increase sought by the investment fund that owned her apartment. Her case prompted encampments and nationwide demonstrations.
The parliamentary defeat increased pressure on Sánchez’s coalition. People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called for an early election, while Spanishthe mediaGuardian reported that sources told the governmentnews wassite Eldiario.es the Socialists were considering bringing forward a vote currently due next summer. Sánchez’s office did not comment on those reports.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →