Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the election after Congress rejected two government housing decrees on October 2. The government approved two new decrees on October 6 preserving the core of the rejected measures, which included protection for vulnerable tenants against eviction until 2030 and automatic renewal of rental contracts.
Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old pensioner whose eviction sparked the protests, died on October 7, Madrid's tenants' union said. She was carried out of her home on a stretcher on September 23 and taken to hospital. Although a subsequent agreement with the property owners would have allowed her to return, she died before going home.