Hundreds of Madrid housing protesters camp at Puerta del Sol and demand that government approve 'Maricarmen decree' on Tuesday

The protesters, led by the Sindicato de Inquilinos (tenants' union), are demanding that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government approve a new housing decree at Tuesday's cabinet meeting, which they have dubbed the 'Maricarmen decree'.

"We are telling Sánchez that they must approve it on Tuesday," demanded Alicia del Río, spokesperson for the Madrid tenants' union.

The demonstration is reminiscent of the '15M' protest that in 2011 turned the same square into one of the symbols of the social mobilisation following the devastating crisis of 2008.

The protest comes after some 25,000 people took to the streets of the Spanish capital on Saturday following the eviction of Maricarmen. Hours later, part of that crowd returned to Sol to spend the night in a camp with around 500 people.

The organisers have put forward specific objectives, with permanent contracts at the heart of their demands and an immediate deadline. The organisation is demanding that the legislation guarantee rent stability and prevent landlords from terminating tenancies simply when they expire.

"If we don't introduce open-ended tenancies in this country, the vultures will rule and this progressive government will no longer make any sense," Del Río said.

According to her, the solution lies in "permanent contracts, permanent contracts and permanent contracts", but she also proposes the automatic renewal of contracts as a mechanism to prevent tenants from being evicted from their homes.

The trade union links this measure to the possibility of maintaining a stable life in Spain's residential districts and to issues such as children continuing at their schools and families and older people remaining in their homes.

The trade union is calling for measures to curb evictions and freeze CPI-linked rent increases. Its proposal also includes a reform of the urban tenancies act to regulate seasonal and room-by-room tenancies and guarantee effective extensions of existing tenancy agreements.

Del Río has urged the government to address these demands. "What problem does your party have with 30 per cent of the population having stable lives in this country?" she asked the prime minister.

The protest in Sol also aims to broaden its scope to other areas affected by housing instability, such as schooling. There is no date set for dismantling the camp. According to Del Río, the protest could spread to other cities in Spain, as will happen in Malaga on Monday.

"We will keep escalating our action, we will keep disobeying until we secure permanent contracts and take whatever further steps are necessary to ensure there are no more Maricarmen cases in our country," she said.

Maricarmen herself called on Saturday, in a video on social media, for her case to be used to drive legal change: "I want what has happened to me to inspire people to fight and to change these unjust laws."

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