Read the daily news to learn English

Russia’s sabotage and drone incidents are ‘failing to undermine’ Nato support for Ukraine, Rutte says - Europe live

Meanwhile, the Kremlin rejected what it called Estonia’s “baseless” accusation that Russia ordered an arson attack on an Estonian defence company in August (10:10). “Such statements are baseless, ill-considered, have absolutely no relation to reality, and lack any form of reasoning. Consequently, we cannot and will not take such statements seriously,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question. How could anyone ever think that Russia could do this, right? Right?

Fayed survivors say GMC let abuse continue by refusing to investigate doctors

Victims of Mohamed Al Fayed have accused the medical regulator of allowing his sexual abuse to continue unchecked by refusing to investigate allegations that doctors were complicit in his crimes. Survivors of Fayed’s abuse have called for the General Medical Council (GMC) to be investigated after it dismissed a request in 2017 to scrutinise a doctor accused of subjecting a woman to intrusive sexual health examinations and sharing the results with Fayed. Almost a decade after complaints were first made to the GMC about Dr Wendy Snell, who died in 2022, the doctors’ regulator has now taken action against two other surviving doctors who are also accused of passing sexual health information to Fayed about women who he later abused. Fayed, the former owner of Harrods died in 2023 a year before hundreds of women went public with accusations of sexual assault by Fayed over the previous decades. Pelham Spong complained to the GMC in 2017 about Snell, a doctor employed by Fayed who subjected her to sexual health tests in 2008 as part of an interview process for a job with the former Harrods owner. The same day Fayed grabbed her face and forcibly kissed her, Spong alleged. Fayed also quizzed Spong about a sexually transmitted disease that Snell had assured her would be kept confidential along with all her results, she claimed. Her complaint, seen by the Guardian, said: “I know that there are other women who have similar stories involving both Fayed, and doctors and improper health screenings at Harrods. In fact, the recruiter who sent me on this interview had previously sent another candidate.” It added: “I felt humiliated, ashamed, and embarrassed that this potential employer knew the most intimate details of my body.” The GMC told Spong it was not in the “greater public interest” to investigate Snell. It added: “We have no powers to investigate, resolve or comment on whether a gynaecological examination should have formed part of your recruitment process.” Spong, who was 23 at the time of the abuse, told the Guardian: “It’s shocking that the GMC received intelligence like mine in 2017 and did nothing. They have been sitting on this for almost 10 years and let my abusers escape. There was an alarming lack of curiosity by the GMC which begs all sorts of questions. I was reporting trafficking.” In October 2017 Spong also reported her ordeal to the Metropolitan police, which obtained a copy of her complaint to the GMC as part of its initial inquiries, before taking no further action. She said: “Fayed continued abusing women until he died. So the fact that the Met and the GMC didn’t do their job in 2017 means more women were harmed. That’s on them, so absolutely they should be investigated.” Spong is backing calls for a public inquiry into Fayed’s crimes that would include failures by the Met and the GMC. Joan* alleges she was raped in the 1990s by Fayed’s brother Salah Fayed after a sexual health examination by Dr Ann Coxon. She alleges that before she was raped, Salah Fayed, who died in 2010, phoned Coxon in her presence and put her on speaker. She alleges Coxon then told him the results of her sexual health tests over the call. Joan said: “I heard it first-hand and I’ve got it all written up in an affidavit that I made at the time. I have also got the test that she refers to.” Joan said: “If the GMC had acted when the first complaints were made in 2017, Fayed could have been stopped and held to account. If they were hearing reports about malpractice they should have escalated it to the police. But instead the GMC, very begrudgingly, very slowly, after massive political pressure, are only now finally starting to take action. This is just the wrong way around. What is the GMC for?” A third victim Judith*, says she was groped by Mohamed Al Fayed after a humiliating sexual health examination by Snell as part of a recruitment process for a job working for the family. She said the examination occurred after Fayed sold Harrods in 2010. Judith said: “I had a full gynaecological test with sexually transmitted disease testing as well. I was really shocked and traumatised that this was needed and I felt so much shame. As a result, I have really struggled with having smear tests since. So the whole episode has really put my life at risk.” She said: “I don’t want an apology from the GMC and a promise that this will never happen again. Instead there has to be clear legislation in place to ensure private doctors are monitored. At the moment there seems to be no oversight at all. “A public inquiry needs to be started as soon as possible and that the GMC should be part of that.” Coxon told the Guardian she could not comment but has previously denied carrying out sexual health tests on Harrods staff. The GMC has imposed restrictions on her ability to practise, and that of another doctor, pending a full investigation. Emma Jones, a solicitor at Leigh Day who is representing several of Fayed’s victims, said: “The GMC is finally taking things seriously, because they’ve imposed interim conditions on these doctors which isn’t always a standard step in these investigations. This is far too little, far too late. “When the complaints were first made to the GMC it should have reported them to the police. It beggars belief why they were not investigated earlier – they were such serious allegations they were conducting sexual health examinations and reporting back to Fayed without permission of the patient. “The failings of the GMC is one of the crucial areas that needs to be investigated, and the only way to do that properly is through a public inquiry.” A GMC spokesperson said: “The reports of sexual abuse carried out by Mohamed Al Fayed are horrifying and shocking. “We are investigating doctors employed by Mr Al Fayed, and have written to the parties involved to provide an update on our investigations. We are taking these concerns very seriously and remain in contact with relevant authorities, including the Metropolitan police. “We will take the appropriate action if we identify any potential fitness to practise concerns about individual doctors, but cannot provide information about individual investigations.” * Names have been changed

‘Jaw-dropping’ play based on Pelicot rape trial comes to London for one night

A play based on the trial of the men who drugged and raped Gisèle Pelicot will come to London for one night only this November – and promises to feature a star-studded cast. The four-hour production of The Pelicot Trial: Tribute to Gisèle Pelicot has been performed around the world, including in New York City and Avignon, the city in France where the trial took place. This autumn, it is coming to London County Hall, the home of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution. “I saw it in French originally – all four hours of it. It was jaw-dropping, harrowing, really emotional,” said Nadia Fall, artistic director and co-chief executive of the Young Vic, which is putting on the performance. “It was the act of witnessing that really got me: it is long-form and testimonial in form.” Fall expects the show to sell out immediately. “Because it’s one night only, what we are able to do is ring our best actors, people you will know ‘off the telly’ as well,” Fall said. The full cast will be announced before tickets go on sale in the coming weeks. Fall added: “The ensemble rehearses together just once. That allows you to call up the best of people who are available for a short commitment. I really can’t wait to announce the company. It is, I think, 27 actors all in all.” The play was created by Milo Rau and Servane Dècle. The Swiss director and playwright Rau is known for adapting court cases for the stage, including the Moscow trial of the Russian punks Pussy Riot and the trial of the Romanian despot Nicolae Ceaușescu. Pelicot became internationally recognised after she waived her right to anonymity to ensure a public trial of her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, who, for almost a decade from 2011, drugged her unconscious and invited dozens of men from an internet forum to rape her. Her husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison in December 2024 and guilty verdicts were returned for all 51 accused men. She wanted the story to be public, saying “shame must change sides”. “We do it one time only in each city,” said Rau. “It is more of a political act really, than a play.” “It is a harsh watch,” said Dècle, “but people stay for the whole time. We let them come in and out if they want, but very few do. Even Gisèle Pelicot herself came to watch in New York. That was amazing. She said, ‘The actress was doing better than I did on trial.’” Journalists covering the trial gave Rau and Dècle thousands of pages of their notebooks, and the play is based on what was said in court. “Everyone wanted to share with us,” said Rau. “It became a trial of our society, of the patriarchy. And we have toured it in at least 15 different countries, in different languages, some I barely understand myself, and the audience still understands the play. Sadly it is a universal experience. It would be better for humanity if this was just a French experience.” “It isn’t scenes and costumes in a set like a traditional piece of theatre. It is the facts. It just floors you,” said Fall. The large majority of the audience has been female, Dècle said. “I wish more men would see it. The very interesting thing about this whole affair is you can really dive into who these male perpetrators were.” Fall said: “Pelicot represents so much for everybody, especially women; resilience and courage and a radical joy for me that she triumphed and lives on. She’s in love and lives her life. That is two fingers up to the patriarchy and I think that is really empowering for us women. This piece and her story is not just about the specifics about her story and sexual assault.” She agreed to the play, the writers said, because she wanted to keep the conversation that was started by her trial going. “We always say she opened the door, and we just keep it open,” said Rau.

Tuesday briefing: Inside the suspected bomb plot at RAF Fairford

Good morning. Vehicles suspected of carrying explosives zipping across Britain, entirely unbeknownst to authorities, is a disconcerting prospect. Initially, it seemed precisely this had occurred in Gloucestershire early on Sunday. A major attack on RAF Fairford appeared to have been scuppered by “pure luck”, a local farmer said, after she noticed suspicious vans and masked men on an otherwise deserted country lane. Had she not tipped off police, the vigilant villager believes the five men arrested on terror offences would not have been apprehended. That account prompted questions about whether police and security services had been caught off guard. Bu new details emerging suggest there are competing, if not conflicting, versions of how events unfolded in the Cotswolds this weekend. So what exactly happened in the early hours of Sunday morning? In today’s First Edition, we’ll explore this, and some other unanswered questions, with the help of Guardian international security correspondent Jason Burke. Before that, this morning’s headlines. Five big stories Energy | Andy Burnham will take his first major step to putting Britain’s utility companies into public control when, at the Labour conference, he announces a new government-backed body to invest in the electricity grid. Immigration | Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has signalled she is considering watering down her plans to make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence in the UK, amid growing demands for a U-turn from cabinet colleagues and unions. AI | Two of the “godfathers” of modern AI and senior executives at OpenAI and Anthropic have warned governments to prepare for an AI “intelligence explosion”, which they say could be the most consequential technological development in history. Petrol | The price of diesel on UK forecourts has hit an all-time high average of 199.18p a litre, as the conflict in the Middle East continues to drive the cost of fuel to record levels. Ebola | A senior member of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s ruling party was beaten to death on Sunday after appearing on a radio programme to raise awareness about the Ebola outbreak, a party representative has said. In depth: What we do (and don’t) know about a suspected bomb plot in the Cotswolds In the early hours of Sunday, a farmer from the village of Whelford was travelling home from a party along quiet rural roads. She was about to drop off a friend, while her husband dozed in the passenger seat. Around 1am, however, she encountered three vans “parked in a really weird fan shape” blocking the path to her farm, close to RAF Fairford, an airbase operated by the US air force. Forced to turn around, she then described seeing “a large group of hooded and masked men” at a nearby junction, who quickly dispersed. After a failed attempt to contact the Ministry of Defence, she phoned the police at 1.36am and posted in the local residents’ WhatsApp group. Roughly 10 minutes later, armed officers were on the scene. Five men were arrested 300 metres from the base’s perimeter, first under the Explosives Act, and subsequently also on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. All five – UK nationals from London aged between 23 and 25 – were released on bail yesterday. In interviews, the farmer, who has remained anonymous, reiterated her belief that her tip off “foiled whatever plans” were unfolding. “I am absolutely staggered that it was left to me, as a member of the public, to see and report this,” she said. That the high-security site was so exposed, and that the vans suspected of carrying explosives in its vicinity went totally unnoticed, has since raised questions. While thanking the farmer for her efforts, defence secretary Wes Streeting was quick to cast doubt on her assertions, hinting that UK security services were aware and that her account only offered “a partial picture”. Donald Trump has claimed the US and UK agencies worked together and had the five men “under view for a long time”, adding the suspects “were looking to do big damage to our fort, and working with the British worked out great”. The farmer acknowledged there had been “activity” by what she “assumed were plain-clothed police officers” in the area in recent days. Another local told the BBC that while walking their dog early on Saturday evening they were stopped by armed police and told to return home. Gloucestershire constabulary said they were first alerted to the suspicious vans at 12.45am on Sunday – almost an hour before the farmer’s 999 call. Counter-terror police have confirmed the three vehicles had been travelling overnight and been subject to extensive examination, with the support of military assets and forensic experts. It is now understood that the material found inside them was not viable explosives, but police have said the investigation is continuing. And then there’s the expeditious nature of the response: the speed with which armed officers and police helicopters arrived at a rural location in the middle of the night appears improbable. *** Questions around the arrests Police are still working to establish motive. Yesterday afternoon, the head of UK National Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, confirmed it may have been the work of proxies, or individuals working on behalf of a foreign state. On Monday night, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News that a foreign actor was involved in the suspected plot, but provided no evidence for his claims. Iran is the centre of speculation, having explicitly stated it considers RAF Fairford “a legitimate target”. Yesterday, the Iranian embassy said it “categorically rejects” any involvement. Used by the US military for decades, RAF Fairford’s two-mile long runway was specially constructed by the Americans to allow long-range bombers to take off and land. Fairford has played a significant role in Trump’s war on Iran; since former prime minister Keir Starmer allowed the US to use UK bases in its assaults, bomb-laden American B-52 and B-1 planes have regularly been spotted taking off. The airbase is one of only two available to the US in Europe that can facilitate these operations, after Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland rejected similar American requests. “Most observers and analysts would place Iran at the top of the list of potential suspects here,” Jason Burke, the Guardian’s international security correspondent, tells me, “though we have very little in the way of information to work on, so it’s entirely possible an altogether different scenario is at play.” As for the five suspects, their being British nationals is likely of little help when determining who may be behind the plot. “The Iranian modus operandi – borrowing a leaf from the Russian playbook – relies on using local hires,” Jason says. “Instead of deploying their own intelligence operatives, they recruit low-grade agents on the ground, some of whom may not fully realise what they are involved in.” *** Growing security concerns Since the US-Israel war on Iran began, a series of UK security incidents have been linked with Iran. Earlier this month, a man and a woman were arrested after raids on homes in north London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service. In March, four Jewish community ambulances were destroyed in an arson attack – counter-terror police explored the possible involvement of Iranian proxies, though aside from a reference to a “terrorist connection”, no mention of Iran was made by prosecutors in court when four men admitted responsibility. Similar suggestions have been made about tens of other antisemitic attacks in the UK and Europe – Iran’s embassy in the UK has denied any involvement. In April, Jason reported that, while direct proof of Iran’s involvement in incidents on UK soil remained elusive, the consensus among security officials was the attacks look to be part of a campaign of hybrid warfare launched by Tehran. Since then, Jason says, more evidence has emerged, in part due to the prosecution of 32-year-old Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi in a US court. “This case laid out in extraordinary detail how he, on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, commissioned, organised, and executed a series of attacks in Europe, including in Britain.” *** A significant escalation If Iran is proven to be responsible, an intended attack on this scale would represent a significant escalation. “It would be a major step up from targeting synagogues, Israeli embassies and US-owned banks,” says Jason, “given this is a piece of major military infrastructure in Britain.” With Andy Burnham leading a new government, it’s possible there may be a recalibration of UK foreign policy. He has said he’d be willing to deviate from Trump when necessary. Burnham’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, was reportedly central to attempts made during a national security meeting to dissuade then-PM Starmer from granting the US permission to use UK bases. But this would not significantly alter the risk of attacks, Jason says. “Iran’s targets are not necessarily chosen to directly punish a country; most experts believe they are selected to sow division in societies, distract policymakers, and divert resources.” For now, the investigation continues. What else we’ve been enjoying Palliative nurse Jane Turner makes a poignant point in this column: regardless of your belief about assisted dying, every side agrees on the need to radically improve end-of-life care in the UK. Charlie Lindlar, newsletters team I devoured Jess Cartner-Morley’s interview with Celia Birtwell, in which Birtwell talks about her friendship with David Hockney and her marriage to Ossie Clark: “He was spectacular, at the beginning,” says Birtwell – even if he did leave her the day after their wedding, pregnant, to honeymoon in Barbados on his own. Lucinda Everett, newsletters team Some vital tips in this piece by Sarah Phillips on the conversations every couple should have to keep a household running safely and happily – I’ve already pencilled in my first weekly “check-in”. Charlie All of the photographs in this gallery of the Porthcawl Elvis festival are wonderful. But my favourite has to be of Brian, AKA Smurf Elvis, who remixed his costume this year after a decade of attending the largest gathering of Elvis fans in Europe. Lucinda Rob Draper’s look back at how Arsenal’s hiring of Arsène Wenger changed football is brilliantly reported – make sure to share it with your nearest mustachioed graphic designer friend called Sam, Ed or Harry. Charlie Sport Nations League | Israeli football team captain Manor Solomon has hit out at Ireland after his team’s 3-o loss in a politically charged Nations League game, saying “They hate us and we don’t like them.” Rugby | In west Wales, fans want to know why the Scarlets and Ospreys, two teams who have won titles and turned out hundreds of Test players, are on the chopping block under the Welsh Rugby Union’s proposal to cut a club by 2028. Football | The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, is poised to bow to demands from Uefa and Concacaf to distribute more money from its $6bn cash reserves to member associations. The front pages The Guardian splashes on “PM unveils electricity grid plan in push for public control of utilities”. The Mail leads with “PM to vow public control of energy, water and housing” and the Mirror looks at Burnham’s energy prices pledge with “Taking back power”. The Financial Times also reports “Burnham to outline plans for social care, welfare and ‘control’ of utilities.” The Times goes with “Labour split on prospect of ending triple lock”, the Telegraph has “Burnham signals end of triple lock”, while The i Paper says “End of UK state pension triple lock moves a step closer”. The Sun looks at the RAF terror drama, asking “Plot’s going on, PM?” Today in Focus The Pussy Riot activist turned Kremlin informer In August, Rita Flores, a Russian artist, activist and former member of the Pussy Riot collective, revealed in a video that she had been working as an informant for Russia’s FSB security service, a cooperation she only broke days after fleeing the country. Masha Alekhina, a founding member of Pussy Riot who was jailed for her support of the group and fled the country, tells Helen Pidd about why she does not feel angry at her former comrade in activism. Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Our weekly series The pet I’ll never forget is always a source of joy. And the story of scruffy little terrier Dennis is no exception. Sophia Money-Coutts got Dennis in 2024 with her then-boyfriend, but within three months the couple had split. “I was distracted from my sadness by this small, bouncy, intensely disobedient dog,” says Money-Coutts, explaining that he raced after every squirrel, raided her bins, licked a man she was dating during an amorous moment, and “once farted on Jilly Cooper’s sofa”. Dennis had accompanied Money-Coutts, a journalist, to an interview with the animal-loving novelist, whose response was typically indulgent. “It doesn’t matter a bit, does it darling?” she recalls Cooper crying, clutching Dennis closer to her. “He can do whatever he likes.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Why is South Korea so angry with Ukraine over two North Korean prisoners of war?

South Korea and Ukraine are locked in an escalating diplomatic dispute over who agreed what regarding the circumstances of two prisoners of war captured fighting for Russia. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told the UN general assembly last week that his country had “sent two North Korean prisoners of war to the Republic of Korea”. Seoul had long said it would take the men. But rather than celebrate, on Monday South Korea summoned Ukraine’s most senior diplomat in Seoul and demanded an apology. Here’s a brief guide to what has happened, and why. Who are the PoWs and what has happened to them? Ukrainian forces captured the two men in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025. They were among thousands of troops Pyongyang sent to fight for Moscow. Both men later said they wanted to go to South Korea, which regards North Koreans as its own citizens. In July, Zelenskyy and South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, agreed to resolve the issue while respecting the soldiers’ “free will”. The captured pair reportedly arrived in South Korea via a third country earlier this month. North Koreans arriving in the South as defectors are usually questioned by the National Intelligence Service before being sent to a state resettlement centre, although sensitive cases can reportedly bypass the centre. Why is Seoul so angry? Seoul says Kyiv requested secrecy about the transfer, fearing domestic criticism for passing up the opportunity to exchange them for “a large number” of Ukrainian prisoners. South Korea says it agreed, citing the safety of the two men and their families as well as diplomatic and security considerations. After Zelenskyy revealed the transfer in his UN speech, Lee said on X that Ukraine had broken a “non-disclosure agreement” and that this was regrettable. Zelenskyy’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn responded on Facebook that there had been no such agreement, prompting accusations from Lee’s critics that the president, whose approval rating has hit a low of 37.9%, had lied. Lee’s office called Kyiv’s statement “false” and said its conduct “seriously damages trust” between the two governments. On Monday, the foreign ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires, demanding an apology at governmental level. Was there actually an agreement? South Korea’s foreign ministry told Ukraine’s envoy there had been a “clear agreement”. Asked by the Guardian the same day whether anything had been put in writing, the ministry said only that the two sides “had decided to handle it confidentially”. Ukraine’s embassy in Seoul did not respond to a request for comment. Has North Korea said anything? No. South Korea’s unification ministry said it had “not identified any related developments so far” and would continue monitoring. North Korea has glorified soldiers who killed themselves rather than be captured. The transfer of two who survived and chose the South is “a fatal matter” for Pyongyang, says Cho Han-bum of the Korea Institute for National Unification. Having built a “heroic narrative” around its troops, the regime is unlikely to disclose the transfer domestically, he says. How big a diplomatic incident is this? After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, South Korea condemned Moscow’s actions, joined western sanctions and, in July, pledged a $100m support package. But it has kept the war at arm’s length, refusing to send weapons directly to Kyiv, in line with its practice of not supplying lethal arms to countries at war. Before the war, Russia was one of South Korea’s biggest trading partners. Lee’s government is also keen to improve relations with Pyongyang. The row has turned that cautious support for Kyiv into open criticism, largely from Lee’s own camp. Kim Byung-joo, a Democratic party lawmaker, said there was “no reason or need” to support Ukraine and has urged the government to review its aid “immediately”.

‘It keeps growing’: the tent camp that stands against Spain’s housing crisis

Wielding a broom and dustpan, Marta García, 60, darted past the edges of tents, sweeping up bits of litter as she passed a poster that read: “What kind of times are these, when we need to defend the obvious?” On Saturday, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid to protest against the country’s deepening housing crisis, the retired schoolteacher was among a small group who had sought to take the protest one step further. “At first we were 10 tents,” she said, gesturing to the sprawling encampment set up in the central Puerta del Sol plaza behind her. “Now, we’re more than 300 tents, and it keeps growing.” Days earlier, many across Spain had watched in shock as news channels showed Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman with a disability, being evicted from the home where she had lived for seven decades. The shock soon gave way to anger as the octogenarian was shown being brought out of her home on a stretcher, flanked by protesters on one side and police officers on the other. Housing campaigners seized on the moment. “The whole country has seen that housing speculation has no mercy on anyone,” said Alicia del Río of the Madrid Tenants’ Union. “We’re not sad, we’re angry. And we’re not going to stop until we change things.” Abascal’s lawyers reportedly reached a deal for her to return home on Monday evening. “If this agreement we have reached is signed, it will obviously be a better and happier outcome for everyone,” her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told reporters, saying it could “help to change the paradigm when it comes to housing in general”. At the encampment earlier on Monday, many described the days of nationwide protests and the encampment as a turning point in a movement that had long simmered as rents rose by 80% within a decade, while the cost of homes climbed by 63%. “We need stability,” said David Iglesias, 25, as he described how the ever-soaring prices had forced people to put their lives on hold to try to keep a roof over their heads. “People who want to have children should be able to do so, even if they are renting. People who dream of becoming musicians or barbers should have the chance to do so and not have to worry that they need to work, work, work to pay for housing,” he said. “It’s an endless loop that is undermining the mental health of young people.” As he spoke, a large banner flapped nearby, reading: “You can speculate on watches, jewels, cryptobros and Ferraris. But not on our fucking homes.” The swelling encampment had prompted a raft of comparisons to 2011, when the Indignados, or 15M movement, began with a month-long occupation of the same Madrid plaza before snowballing into a force that had reshaped Spanish politics. Iglesias, however, brushed off the similarity. “That was about a general demand for change,” he said. “But we have a goal, and if this goal isn’t met by Tuesday, we’ll have to take action somehow.” It was a nod to the informal camp slogan, launched by housing campaigners and oft-repeated by protesters in recent days: “Either the rentier economy falls, or the government does.” As Spain’s government gears up for its weekly Tuesday meeting, campaigners have put forward a list of demands, from measures to halt evictions to the regulation of short-term and room rentals, making it clear that this is being seen as a make-or-break moment. On Sunday, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said his government was “working around the clock to introduce a royal decree on housing on Tuesday”. The protests have put the Socialist leader in a complicated spot; while his coalition government includes leftwing forces who have long pushed for change, Spain’s fractured parliament means his chances are slim of attracting support for measures that could bring about real change. Still, the momentum has continued to grow across the country, fuelled by the campaigners who occupied the offices of Madrid’s social housing agency on Monday to those in Barcelona who began the day by blocking off major thoroughfares. “Today cannot be a day like all others,” said Enric Aragonès of the Barcelona Tenants’ union, ahead of a protest planned for Tuesday evening in the city. “There are only 24 hours left until we find out whether the government will approve a decree that is a sham or genuine.” In Madrid, the calls for change had attracted a diverse group, including Oscar-winning film director Pedro Almodóvar, who visited on Sunday to voice his support for the protesters. “The housing problem is paralysing Spanish life,” he told broadcaster RTVE. Sitting cross-legged in a tent and knitting to pass the time, Guillermo Esteve said he was part of a group of vegans who had decided to show their support by joining the encampment. “We’re a group of people who believe we can do things better,” he said, describing his hope that this would be part of a sweeping change that would start with the real estate sector, then address the precarity of the labour market and eventually tackle production systems. “We want laws that give us hope, not what we have now.” The sentiment was echoed by García, the retired schoolteacher. “This camp is an example of how people still believe that things can change,” she said. “I have my life sorted out; I have a house. But I have two daughters who are sharing bedrooms because they have no other choice. So I can’t just sit around doing nothing.” This was how she had ended up in the heart of Madrid on a Monday afternoon, sweeping the city’s central plaza, she added with a laugh. “Look, if I didn’t think this was going to amount to anything, I would just stay home and cry,” she said. “But I have to stay helpful.” With contribution from Stephen Burgen in Barcelona