Thousands march through Malaga city centre to protest against the housing shortage and call for a general strike

Following a week of protests across the country and one day after the Pedro Sánchez government’s decrees were rejected in Congreso, demonstrators in Malaga marched under the slogan ‘Towards a general strike against rent-seeking’. The turnout in Malaga was so massive that it took even the organisers themselves by surprise.

The protest set off at 7pm from Plaza de la Constitución, which has become the base camp for the protests and where hundreds of people have been sleeping in tents since last Monday as part of a movement spearheaded by the Malaga Tenants’ Union and the 'Un Techo por Derecho' (A Roof is a Right) collective.

Despite the conflicting official figures regarding the number of people who took part in the protest, it was a massive march featuring entire families, elderly people and, above all, young people. The front of the march was led by women who had been evicted.

For nearly two hours, the demonstrators marched through the streets of the city centre on a circular route that began and ended in the central square, passing along Calle Larios, Alameda Principal and Carretería. The participants returned to the starting point chanting “If we don’t have a home, we’ll come back to the square”. Throughout the march, slogans such as “There isn’t room for so many people under a bridge”, “No more evictions” and “Being a landlord isn’t a profession” could be heard.

With the area packed to the brim (many were unable to gain access to the square after the march), a statement was read out and a ‘post-demo’ street party was organised, featuring concerts, DJs and popular music. Following the protest - the second in less than a week - demonstrators have camped in the square once again and have stated that they will not leave until the majority decides to do so. “We will stay here until the assembly decides otherwise,” they maintain.

Before the protest began, one of the spokespeople for the Sindicato de Inquilinas de Málaga (Tenants’ Union), Curro Machuca, pointed out that all those present were united by a common cause: “the housing crisis currently affecting the country” and their frustration at the lack of effective solutions.

In his view, just five days of action have been enough to show that it is only when the people unite that political parties take action. “Despite the fact that the two decrees put forward by the government in recent days were clearly inadequate, their rejection by Parliament highlights the gulf between the needs of those who live and work in cities and those of the institutions,” the platform later emphasised.

For this very reason, they believe that "a general strike is the tool we have to secure the rights that are being eroded". Furthermore, he pointed out that "the whole country is up in arms because this is a problem that affects a large proportion of the working classes; what the movement is calling for is nothing out of the ordinary".

Many young people with different circumstances took part in the demonstration. Laura, José Luis and Rosa are just three examples: the first two are siblings and live with their parents because they cannot afford to live independently; for the third, the money she earns from her job is barely enough to pay the rent. "I pay 600 euros for a mini-studio, which is basically just a room, and my parents have to help me with everything else."

Another example was given by María, a young woman who has been living in the city for eight years and has had to move house as many as seven times. “Prices are sky-high; you can’t get ahead or make any medium- or long-term plans this way.”

According to the organisers, this Saturday’s protest marks the starting point for the movement campaigning for an upcoming general strike against rent-seeking and in defence of the right to housing.

Furthermore, it took place just a few hours after the protest held that morning in the eastern part of the city against the gentrification of the neighbourhood.

This citizens’ movement, which comes fifteen years after the 15M protests, began at the start of the week, when thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the housing crisis in Malaga, chanting "No more evictions." That protest, initially planned as a rally outside the city hall and sparked by the eviction of Maricarmen in Madrid, turned into an impromptu camp in the Plaza de la Constitución, which has remained active ever since.

Before Saturday’s protest began, both the PSOE and Adelante Andalucía addressed the issue of housing. On the one hand, the deputy general secretary of the PSOE-A, María Márquez, pointed out that Malaga has served “as a testing ground for the PP’s policies and is now a showcase for inequality and poor housing policy”. On the other hand, the spokesperson for Adelante Andalucía, José Ignacio García, maintained that “all homes are intended solely for people to live in”.

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