Spain housing crisis decrees were rejected in parliament on Friday, after the conservative People's party, the far-right Vox and the Catalan pro-independence party Junts voted against Pedro Sánchez's Socialist-led coalition, as a protest movement over rents kept growing in Madrid.

Parliament rejects the decrees

The government presented the package in parliament on Friday, intending to calm the public uproar over housing. Instead, the votes of the People's party, Vox and Junts sank it in a fractured chamber. The measures would have included:

• •a ban on evictions running until 2030
• •regulation of temporary lettings
• •regulation of lettings by room

The People's party said it voted on its belief that building, rather than regulating, addresses the crisis. "Housing doesn't become more affordable through decrees; it becomes more affordable by building more homes," lawmaker Juan Bravo said.

Sánchez had pushed ahead regardless. Late on Thursday, as news broke that rightwing parties planned to vote against the measures, he said the vote would go ahead as planned and framed the choice: "You're with the social majority or with speculators". On social media, he said the ballot would reveal the rightwing parties' "true colours".

An eviction that grew into a camp

The movement traces back to Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old wheelchair user who was evicted late last month from the home she had lived in for 70 years. She said she could not afford the 230% rent increase demanded by the investment fund that bought her apartment. Her eviction was the moment long-simmering anger over housing costs boiled over into protest.

The firm later said it had struck a deal allowing her to return home, with rent closer to what she previously paid. Protests have continued even after that deal was announced. On Saturday, they mark one week since a small group of protesters pitched 10 tents in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza, a short walk from parliament. The encampment has since grown to more than 1,500 tents, a peaceful settlement with its own street names, a medical centre and a co-working space.

Protester Marta García said the camp had expected a different result:

Rents up 80% in a decade

Behind the anger are stark numbers. Rents in Spain have surged 80% within a decade, while the cost of homes has climbed by 63%, causing significant hardship for many. Earlier this year, the Youth Council of Spain put average rent at €1,176 ($1,323) a month, an amount equal to 98.7% of the average salary for under-30s.

• •A poll on Friday suggested two-thirds of people in Spain back government intervention in the housing market to limit prices.
• •Outside parliament as the result came in, protesters booed the news, displaying homemade signs bearing vulture images and chanting "Your profits, our misery".

Weekend protests and a strike threat

The demonstrations have dominated the national conversation, reviving Sánchez's beleaguered government and shifting attention away from the lingering impact of recent events in Ceuta. Sources told the news site Eldiario.es that the Socialists were considering bringing next year's elections forward, potentially to this November.

Campaigners answered the rejection by vowing to keep pushing for better housing access, with the Confederation of Tenants' Unions saying in a statement that it would not be stopped. The union body called on people across Spain to take to the streets this weekend, naming a general strike as the movement's next step.