There have been over 40 demonstrations in dozens of cities across Spain with angel levels building.
It could be Spain’s biggest-ever housing protest. Ken Browne reports from Madrid.
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It could be Spain’s biggest-ever housing protest. Ken Browne reports from Madrid.
Read more ⬇️
https://tinyurl.com/2dmdyewa
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NewsTranscript
00:00Spanish people have taken to the streets in their tens of thousands to reclaim their constitutional right to a home amid skyrocketing house and rent prices.
00:10The slogan for today's protest is stop using our homes for your business.
00:19This could potentially be Spain's biggest ever housing protest.
00:23Protest people crying out for decent and affordable housing with young people and migrants worst affected.
00:30Yes, I'm actually very angry. I belong to a housing union which fights this problem every day.
00:36Not only for young people but for the whole population of Spain in which paying rent is a very big struggle.
00:43I spend more than half of my salary in housing, right? And my friends are exactly the same.
00:49Every year our rent increases because it's allowed and every five or seven years when the contract finishes, rent goes up whatever the landlord desires.
00:58And that cannot be. So next year my contract is up and I don't know what's going to happen.
01:06Rent prices have skyrocketed by 80% over the past decade, exacerbated by record tourist numbers and the rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.
01:17The government say this issue is a priority.
01:21The government of Spain is doing its part. We are doing this to ensure that people's constitutional rights now become a reality.
01:28We will not stop until people have access to decent housing. This is the fifth pillar of our welfare state.
01:36Organizers however say it isn't enough and are demanding much more radical and immediate measures
01:41including an end to property speculation, more public housing and immediate drop in rents
01:46and that something is done with the more than 3.8 million empty homes in Spain.
01:53Protestors say they are willing to stop paying rent en masse to occupy empty buildings and even to go on general strike.
02:00They say that eviction companies should be outlawed, vulnerable families protected
02:05and this year with projections of house prices to go up another 10% they say they will not be silent.
02:12Ken Brown, CGTN, Madrid.