Barcelona housing protest draws thousands and ends with police charges

Thousands of people demonstrated in Barcelona to demand measures in response to the housing crisis and to support a call for a general strike. The mobilisation was also echoed in Cerdanyola. At the end of the march in Barcelona there were incidents, with bins set on fire, barricades and clashes with the Mossos d’Esquadra, who carried out police charges and made arrests.

The protest comes amid growing tension over access to housing, especially in large urban areas. Rising rents, the difficulty of buying a home and the weight of housing costs on wages have fuelled mobilisations by tenants’ unions and social groups.

For landlords and tenants, a protest does not in itself change the obligations in a contract. But it does increase political pressure for measures on rents, evictions or affordable housing.