Spaniards protest housing crisis as PM calls snap election

Tens of thousands gather in Barcelona to protest

against housing shortage.

This after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls

a snap election after his government suffered heavy defeat

in a parliamentary vote on two decrees aimed at tackling

the crisis.

Signs in tow,

waving flags and chanting demands for free

and quality housing.

Plumes of smoke trail as thousands gather on

the streets of Barcelona to protest Spain's

burgeoning housing crisis.

Police stand ready with shields,

as some protesters light piles of trash on fire.

Protestors say the country is in a "critical situation" that

is affecting people of all ages.

"We cannot keep paying such high rents, I think this is the right

moment to do something politically," one marcher says.

Just hours earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced

snap elections for November 29, coming roughly eight months earlier

than originally planned.

The latest move to regroup comes following the Sanchez

government's failed attempt to push back on right-wing oppositions' vote against

emergency decrees to address evictions and real estate speculation.

For months, Spaniards have been protesting a series of missteps by

the government including its slow reaction to the migrant

crisis in Ceuta.

A highly publicised eviction last month of an 87-year-old Madrid woman

who was forced out of the home she's lived in for 70 years when rent was raised

to 1,650 euros, exceeding her monthly pension by 300 euros,

further triggered Spaniards to demand solutions from the government.

The snap election is seen as a play by the current government to

ride on public sentiments and push out far-right, anti-immigration

opponents including the VOX party.