Thousands in Spain join nationwide march to protest against housing crisis

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Spain in the latest protest against housing speculation and to demand access to affordable homes.Organisers claim that up to 150,000 joined the protest in Madrid while smaller demonstrations were held in about 40 cities across the country. Protesters from Málaga on the Costa del Sol to Vigo in the Atlantic northwest chanted “end the housing racket” and “landlords are guilty, the government is responsible”.Valeria Racu, a spokesperson for the Madrid tenants’ union, called for rent strikes such as those mounted recently in some Catalan coastal towns.“This is the beginning of the end of the housing business,” Racu said. “The beginning of a better society, without landlordism and this parasitical system that devours our salaries and our resources.”The union says 1.4m Spanish households spend more than 30% of their income on housing, 200,000 families more than 10 years ago.Housing has become the number one social issue in Spain as a c...