💥 The Housing Crisis Explodes

Plus: a new Catalan society murder, Pedro goes to Harvard, and a stupid scandal in Parliament.

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💣 What will Spain's panicked fast-tracked housing decrees mean for you?

Well, that escalated quickly. What started last week with Maricarmen’s eviction has exploded into a much bigger revolt over Spain's housing crisis. Thousands took to the streets, protesters set up camps, and the government rushed through sweeping measures that could change the rules for millions of renters, landlords, and aspiring homeowners.

But first, some good news: Maricarmen is going back home. The 87-year-old woman whose eviction from the Madrid apartment she's had for 71 years sparked this whole movement has accepted an agreement with the property owner, Urbagestión, allowing her to return once she is discharged from Hospital Gregorio Marañón.

She will sign a new eight-year lease. Her total monthly housing costs will be around €500, with the agreement guaranteeing they won’t exceed 30% of her net income. She told her lawyer she’s “very happy”.

But the genie is out of the bottle. Maricarmen’s eviction has managed to incense hundreds of thousands of people around the country who have had it up to here (you have to imagine where our hand is) and are apparently now ready to go to war.

Occupy Sol, housing edition. After a massive protest in downtown Madrid on Saturday afternoon, protesters, led by the Tenants’ Union, decided to set up camp in Puerta del Sol, where there are now reportedly more than 1,000 tents. (Protests and encampments have popped up outside Madrid too.) People want solutions.

The government reacts. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government responded on Tuesday by approving an emergency package of housing measures split into two decrees (the live one and the dead one, but we'll get to that in a sec).

In simple terms, here’s what's in decree #1:

Renters get more time. Tenants with qualifying leases that expire before the end of 2028 will be able to request a two-year extension, designed in part to prevent landlords from using expiring contracts to impose huge rent increases.
Evictions get harder. Certain evictions of vulnerable tenants without alternative housing will be suspended until 2030, particularly when the property belongs to an entity covered by the decree’s new definition of a “vulture fund.”
Goodbye, fake temporary rental? Landlords will have to prove that there’s an actual reason for giving you a temporary contract. If they can’t, it becomes a regular residential lease. Renting apartments room by room to circumvent rent limits also gets much harder.
Tourist apartments will pay 10% VAT, while municipalities will get more power to increase property taxes on tourist and vacant homes in stressed housing markets.
Carrot, meet stick. Tenants earning under certain thresholds get new tax deductions, while landlords can get tax breaks for things like lowering the rent or renting to young people in stressed areas.
First home, anyone? The government’s new Tu Casa program would offer interest-free loans of up to €50,000 to people who can afford a mortgage but can’t scrape together enough money upfront to buy their first home.
And the “vultures”? Certain purchases by entities the decree classifies as “vulture funds” would be restricted until 2028, while publicly financed housing gets more protection from eventually being sold into the private speculative market.

Then there’s decree #2, which includes one enormous thing: automatically renewable rental contracts.

Forever tenants. Instead of your landlord just being able to choose not to renew your lease when it ends, most contracts would keep renewing unless the landlord has a legally recognized reason to end it. That's one of the biggest demands of the tenants’ movement and Sumar. Also, landlords who end a rental without a legally justified reason would have to compensate the tenant with lots of money — at least 12 months' worth of rent.

That's why we have two decrees. The government knows that automatic renewals and one-year penalties will be much harder to get through Parliament (we'd bet on impossible). So rather than bundle everything together and likely lose the whole package, PSOE and Sumar separated the controversial measure from everything else.

Junts and Podemos might ruin the fun. Parliament will vote on validating both decrees tomorrow, and Sánchez says he’s “reasonably optimistic” (not sounding so confident) that the measures will survive the vote. Left-ish Sumar obviously backs the package, and other parties on the parliamentary left have more or less expressed support for it. However…

Center-right PP and far-right Vox: Absolutely not. PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo says the PP will vote against both decrees, arguing that they will reduce the supply of rental properties. Vox is also expected to oppose them.
Junts: 🤷‍♂️. The right-leaning Catalan separatists say they’re “disappointed and worried,” and aren’t convinced the measures will work. But they haven’t said how they’ll vote. Their votes could be decisive.
Far-left Podemos: Also 🤷‍♂️. Ione Belarra’s party has been pushing for much more aggressive intervention in the housing market and hasn’t committed either (the very progressive Tenants’ Union, however, is pressuring them to vote yes).

Don't expect the tents (and tension) to disappear anytime soon. Madrid's Tenants' Union says the Sol encampment will continue with acts of “civil disobedience” and has called another protest for Saturday regardless of what happens on Friday.

Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, meanwhile, wants the national government to clear the “illegal” camp from the square; her government has given the central government's delegate in Madrid 24 hours to order an eviction — or face possible legal action.

More news below. 👇👇

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🎙️ A new episode of The Bubble Podcast is out!

In this new episode, we discuss the Ceuta migration crisis; we have a one-on-one with journalist and writer David Jiménez and discuss weird Spanish obsessions. Subscribe and listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 😵 Another possible murder in the arts in Catalonia?

Remember the mysterious death of Isak Andic, the founder of Mango? You should, because we’ve written again and again (and podcasted too!) about how police never believed that his fall from a cliff in Montserrat (Catalonia) was an accident — considering his estranged son was meters away. Well, now the death of one of his most intimate friends — the famous Catalan architect Josep Juanpere — is being investigated as a possible murder. What’s going on in Catalonia with rich older men in the arts?

What the f*ck? The Mossos d’Esquadra arrested Juanpere’s partner, Belén López, 64, in Madrid on Sept. 23 on suspicion of homicide — nine months after Juanpere was found dead in his Baqueira ski apartment on Dec. 26, 2025. She was released on €80,000 bail after denying all responsibility and declaring she loved him.

The story, as it has emerged from the court filing, is properly bizarre. On Christmas Eve, Juanpere fell ill at dinner with López and his nephew, hit his head on a radiator, and was taken to hospital. He was discharged that night and described as conscious and speaking normally.

Juanpere’s apartment was a mess from his vomiting after the fall, so López booked three rooms at the AC Baqueira hotel. The next day, Christmas, the couple returned to the apartment, alone, with Juanpere’s diet reduced to small amounts of water with oral rehydration sachets.

When the nephew couldn’t reach them by phone on Dec. 26, he went to the apartment, found his key blocked from inside by another key, and had to force the door open with the old credit-card trick.

After the nephew got in, López tried to stop him from entering the bedroom, murmuring: “If you’re here you’ll be here, if not you won’t be” — which the media diplomatically attribute to her interest in “alternative therapies.” Once in, he found his uncle unconscious on the floor and called emergency services (there is no record of López having called them). When emergency services arrived, Belén blurted out, apparently unprompted: “I wanted to marry him, and he didn’t want to get married.” Paramedics spent half an hour trying to revive Juanpere, to no avail.
Trouble in paradise. The judge notes the relationship had been “certainly tense” since the previous summer, and the forensic report identified marks on Juanpere’s neck “compatible with external force.” (López’s lawyers contest this, arguing the marks came from his earlier fall.)

Juanpere was the architect of the Catalan establishment. His firm GCA Architects designed the Torre Puig, the Cuatrecasas headquarters in 22@, and Mango’s vast logistics center. And one of his closest friends was Isak Andic — whose death, he said at the time, affected him greatly. Little did he know he would join him a year later.

Two close friends. Two suspicious December deaths. Two open murder investigations. Catalonia’s design world is starting to feel like an Agatha Christie novel.

2. 🧑‍🎓 Mr. Handsome attacked by the Harvard Youths

We know we said New York was Pedro Sánchez’s happy place last week. And it largely was. But then he went to Boston, which was not so nice. (We’re not big fans of Boston either, so we sympathize.)

Haaaaarvard. Sánchez showed up at the Harvard Kennedy School’s JFK Jr. Forum to deliver a real diatribe against the Tech Bros — Elon, Zuck, that weirdo Peter Thiel — comparing A.I.’s unchecked development to “a new nuclear arms race” and declaring that “we will not put the future of humanity in the hands of a few billionaires.” Strong stuff. The Harvard kids loved it. (Honestly, most people do.)

Then came the Q&A. And things did not go as planned.

First up came Peter, an AI researcher. He asked — in English, with an American accent (the amazing accent in the video above is a voiceover) — about the corruption cases involving Sánchez’s wife, his brother, and the former attorney general.

Answer #1. Sánchez acknowledged that, yeah, there had been corruption in his government and party (”those cases are certain, unfortunately”) but drew a sharp line with family. As in, his wife and brother were a different matter entirely. “A young student like you is already condemning them,” he said, visibly pained. “You say my brother and my wife are guilty, and that is not fair because they are not.” (Actually, his brother was found guilty, but anyway…) The audience, mostly sympathetic, murmured.

Next, Nicolás asked the spicy one. Given that Sánchez’s phone was hacked by Pegasus — widely attributed to Morocco’s government — did that have anything to do with Spain’s subsequent flip on Western Sahara?

Answer #2. Sánchez confirmed the hacking, denied the connection, and suggested the rest was disinformation. “Why should I have to defend myself from fake news?” he asked. Which is a pretty good line if you can pull it off. And which sounds like B.S. if you can’t.

Finally, Daniel asked about Venezuela — and about whether Sánchez would distance himself from former PM José Luis Zapatero’s chummy relationship with the country’s dictator/president Nicolás Maduro.

Answer #3. Sánchez said Spain never recognized Maduro’s election results and always supports free elections. Of Zapatero, he said exactly nothing. Just sailed right past it. 🌬️

Dude must have missed New York. And after Maricarmen, even more so.

3. 🌶️ Pepper spray-gate is the stupidest scandal to hit Parliament in a long time

Not on our bingo card. Of all the controversies currently consuming Spanish politics (trust us, there are many), we weren’t expecting one involving pepper spray, an evacuated bathroom, and parliamentary aides playing dumb. And yet, here we are.

Remember when Ceuta was a thing? Last week (right before Maricarmen), PP MP Ana Vázquez was questioning Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska about security in Ceuta when she dramatically pulled out a canister of pepper spray in the middle of Parliament.
Vázquez claimed her point was that women and children in Ceuta have to carry the stuff because they no longer feel safe following this summer’s migration crisis.
Show her the door. However, pepper spray is considered a weapon under Parliamentary rules, so Speaker Francina Armengol ordered Vázquez to leave the chamber and get rid of it. Vázquez was furious, repeatedly saying as she was leaving that the can was empty.

Narrator voice: It was not empty. A few minutes later, a strong smell began spreading through the Parliament building. Three bathrooms were sealed off, offices were partially evacuated, and 12 people required medical attention, including a member of a visiting Mauritanian delegation. It really smelled like pepper spray.

Whoopsie! After a few hours of mystery, a PP staffer acknowledged that Vázquez had asked him to “clean” the supposedly empty canister. He took it into a bathroom, pressed the nozzle “two or three times,” and, surprise, pepper spray came out. The gas then spread beyond the bathroom.
Backfire. PP MPs were… not happy with the stunt and spoke to the media about their frustration over how this dumb episode had distracted from precisely the issue Vázquez had been trying to highlight.

Not over yet. On Tuesday, Parliament formally opened disciplinary proceedings against Vázquez, with PSOE and Sumar members of the congressional governing board voting in favor (PP members opposed the move, obvi).

She has 10 days to respond. If the process ultimately results in punishment, Vázquez could temporarily lose her status as an MP, along with her salary and voting rights.

Some scandals are complicated. Pepper spray-gate really isn’t.

4. 📈 Prices going up, up, up

Housing prices are bad enough, but have you tried to afford a banana 🍌 lately? Joking (a bit) — but the news is not good. Annual inflation in Spain jumped again in September, hitting its highest level since February 2023. Remember Ukraine? That was fun.

The latest: Spain’s September consumer price index came in at 4.9%, up from 4.3% in August and above analyst expectations. Core inflation — which strips out energy and fresh food — rose to 3.1%. Unprocessed food is up 5.8% (hence the banana joke). Energy is up 21.6%. Which is 😬.

The culprit, again, is the 🍊. Trump’s Iran war has partially blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz — through which the oil normally doth flow — keeping the price of crude, and by extension gas, stubbornly high.

We’ve been here before. Last month we noted that August’s 4.3% shocker was being driven by the same fuel spike, with core inflation still relatively contained. The worry now is that that “containment” will go away. Fresh food prices are already rising fast, and BBVA Research thinks inflation will stay above 4% through year-end even without further shocks.
For context (which we know you love), yesterday France came in at 3.4% and Italy at 4.1% — both elevated, but both well below Spain. The European Central Bank, which has raised rates twice to 2.5%, is watching and shaking its head. More rate jumps ahead!

The really unfortunate thing? Spain is already the OECD country that spends the most trying to stop inflation. The government has now committed over €12bn across three anti-crisis packages (i.e. tax holidays and subsidies). That’s more than Germany (€4.1bn), more than France, more than anyone. In fact, Spain leads the Bruegel think tank’s ranking of energy subsidy spending by a big ass margin.

The OECD, the European Commission, and the ECB have all gently suggested that blanket subsidies stoke the very demand that drives inflation, and that maybe they should be targeted at vulnerable households. Spain (along with most European governments, to be fair) has ignored this advice.

Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo put a brave face on it Tuesday. He noted that “about two percentage points” of the September inflation are pure energy, that government measures have “absorbed about 50% of the increase in gas and diesel prices,” and that “the cushion has worked.” Yeah…

5. 🎬 Spanish cinema is having one hell of a year

Yes, streaming killed the movie theater’s star, but maybe things are changing? Have we suddenly grown tired of lying on the couch, browsing endlessly? Are we now looking for more human connection, to laugh and cry together before the silver screen?

Whatever the case may be, Spanish movies are suddenly making serious money at the box office.

After years of failing to crack €100m in domestic ticket sales, 2026 is now on course to potentially become the second-biggest year for Spanish cinema ever. And two wildly different movies are doing much of the heavy lifting: Torrente, presidente and, now, La bola negra.
Los Javis have a monster hit on their hands. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La bola Negra opened last Friday in Spain and took €4.67m over its first weekend, the ninth-biggest opening ever for a Spanish movie and the second-biggest Spanish opening of the past decade. By Tuesday, the film had passed €6.6m, after reportedly notching the best Tuesday ever recorded by a Spanish film.

What’s the movie about? It’s inspired by an unfinished work by poet and playwright Federico García Lorca (who was killed in the Civil War), and it follows the story of gay men across three periods of Spanish history.

Big cast. It stars Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Miguel Bernardeau, Lola Dueñas and Guitarricadelafuente. (Spain has selected it as its submission for the international feature Oscar, but we have a feeling it could win Best Picture).

Crazy numbers. Analysts think La Bola Negra could eventually make somewhere around €20–30m (not much for an Avengers movie, huge for Spain). If it reaches the upper end, it could join Torrente, presidente, which has already made more than €28m this year. (Spain has never had two homegrown movies pass €25m in the same year).

And they’re basically cinematic opposites. One is the latest installment of Santiago Segura’s proudly vulgar Torrente franchise; the other is a two-and-a-half-hour Lorca-inspired queer historical drama from the Javis. Both have managed to get young people into movie theaters.

With La bola negra included, Spanish films have already grossed more than €83m in 2026, more than they made during the entirety of 2022, 2023, 2024 or 2025, with three months still to go.

This year's Spanish films are now expected to sail past 2019's €94mn, with optimistic projections putting the total above €110m.
If that happens, 2026 would be behind only 2014, when a little movie called Ocho Apellidos Vascos casually made €56m all by itself.

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