BARCELONA (Reuters) - About 22,000 people protested in Barcelona on Saturday, in the latest demonstration to demand lower housing rental prices and better living conditions.
Housing has become a major issue in Spain as it struggles to balance promoting tourism, a key driver of its economy, and concerns over high rents due to gentrification and landlords shifting to more lucrative, short-term tourist rentals.
The price of rentals signed in the second quarter of 2024 in Barcelona was almost 70% higher than in the same period of 2014, data from the Catalan Housing Agency shows.
"We are spending half our wages in rent ... This must stop!," said Carme, 28, a spokeswoman for a tenants union.
Smaller protests were held across Catalonia, and in Burgos, Asturias in north Spain and Jerez de la Frontera in the south.
The government announced a crackdown on short-term and seasonal holiday lettings in July and plans to investigate listings on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com to verify if they have licences.
Demonstrations have been held this year in Madrid, the Canary Islands and Malaga, where seasonal hospitality workers struggle to find accommodation, with many sleeping in caravans or even their cars.
Spain has been hit by a major mobile network outage just weeks after a massive power blackout disrupted the country. The outage, reportedly caused by network upgrades from telecom provider Telefónica, affected emergency phone services and landline communication in multiple regions.
A widespread blackout on 28 April 2025 disrupted power across Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and parts of southern France, exposing vulnerabilities in the Iberian Peninsula’s energy infrastructure and prompting renewed debate over energy policy and grid resilience.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered across Spain's Canary Islands, urging authorities to address overtourism and its impact on local communities, including rising housing costs, congestion, and strained services.
A fire broke out on Wednesday at a chemical distribution warehouse near Seville in southern Spain, prompting authorities to advise residents to stay indoors due to the potential release of toxic smoke.
Around 160,000 people in Spain’s Catalonia region were ordered to stay indoors on Saturday after a fire at a chemical factory released a toxic chlorine cloud over several towns.
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran to discuss strengthening bilateral relations and advancing cooperation in trade, transport, energy, and regional initiatives.
The North Atlantic right whale’s survival hangs by a thread as this year’s record-low birth numbers sound the alarm on a species racing against extinction.
Spain has been hit by a major mobile network outage just weeks after a massive power blackout disrupted the country. The outage, reportedly caused by network upgrades from telecom provider Telefónica, affected emergency phone services and landline communication in multiple regions.
Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir has been promoted to the ceremonial rank of field marshal, the first such promotion in nearly 60 years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on May 15, with discussions reportedly focusing on upcoming peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegates in Istanbul.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war in Gaza will not stop until Hamas is destroyed, following the release of US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander.
Qatar signed a landmark agreement with U.S. aerospace giant Boeing on Wednesday to acquire 160 aircraft for Qatar Airways, a deal valued at $200 billion. The signing took place in Doha during the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet behind closed doors at Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace at 10:00 local time today to explore security guarantees, territorial integrity and a possible ceasefire.
EU approves 17th Russia sanctions, blacklisting almost 200 shadow‑fleet ships, 30 evasion firms and 75 defence figures, banning missile chemicals and arming Brussels to strike Kremlin hybrid and operations.
The EU and UK unveiled new sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow oil fleet and financial networks, acting independently of the US after talks failed to yield a Ukraine ceasefire.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has apologised to Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts for being "overly rude" during Prime Minister’s Questions last week.
Spain has been hit by a major mobile network outage just weeks after a massive power blackout disrupted the country. The outage, reportedly caused by network upgrades from telecom provider Telefónica, affected emergency phone services and landline communication in multiple regions.
Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir has been promoted to the ceremonial rank of field marshal, the first such promotion in nearly 60 years.
Poland’s presidential candidates received demands from far-right leaders whose voters could decide the outcome of the June 1 run-off election.
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran to discuss strengthening bilateral relations and advancing cooperation in trade, transport, energy, and regional initiatives.
The North Atlantic right whale’s survival hangs by a thread as this year’s record-low birth numbers sound the alarm on a species racing against extinction.
Spain has been hit by a major mobile network outage just weeks after a massive power blackout disrupted the country. The outage, reportedly caused by network upgrades from telecom provider Telefónica, affected emergency phone services and landline communication in multiple regions.
Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir has been promoted to the ceremonial rank of field marshal, the first such promotion in nearly 60 years.
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