What´s up? What´s up? We don´t have houses

Housing is a big issue in Madrid. Half of "kids" under 35 still live with their parents, and the average age of "emancipation" is even higher in Madrid. Part of the reason is culture, but another part is the ridiculously high price of reasonable living in Spain (say the Madrileños I met at the protest).
The President is trying to encourage citizens to rent more. That wasn´t enough for the protesters.
They waved Cuban flags (in an exercise of stupidity that reminded me of the immigrants rights marchers waving Mexican flags) and Republic of Spain flags (the Republic that existed before Franco was moderate-left, not Communist, but Republicans allied with Communist to fight Franco´s Nationalists in the Civil War, so the flag has become a symbol of Communism).
The protesters wanted the government to build low-cost housing. That well-intentioned idea would probably do harm, in my opinion. The US government has undertaken such projects -- they usually become the worst areas of any neighborhood (ever heard Dr. Dre rap about living in "The Projects"?). No one really owns the homes, and, without real ownership, the buildings are neglected.
The protesters also talked about government fixing of rent rates. Pretty short-sighted. That kind of move would discourage home-owners from renting their homes, so those that did benefit from lower prices would be a lucky few. Most people would be worse off.
The protesters best idea was embodied in a sign that read "Casas sin gente y tú sin casa - acaba €speculación." (In English: "Houses without people and you without a house - end speculation.") The protesters´ suggestion was to impose high taxes on owners of houses without people living in them. Seems interesting. If you think that maximizing living space serves more good for society than speculation, even if to maximize the space you need to interfere with market forces, this tax is for you. It encourages owners to use their houses as homes.
The protest itself was fun. Protesters met at la Puerta de Sol (imagine the Santa Monica Promenade in downtown LA). I estimate about 3,000 people were there, and another few thousand watched. I chanted along with everyone else. "¿Qué pasa, qué pasa? ¡No tenemos casa!" (English: "What´s up, what´s up? We don´t have houses!")

I´ve been meeting a lot of people, most through the Spanish school. About half are Germans, a country that has the best combination of high population, proximity to Spain, and tradition of learning languages other their own (unlike, say, France). The other half are Dutch, Austrian, Canadian, and French. And I meet locals, too, mostly on the bus or the metro.
Nightlife is often bar-hopping. This Saturday, though, I persuaded the people I was with that we needed to hang out in the forest near my house. Exploring the forest - that´s nightlife.