Spain’s government approves new urgent housing measures after a night of unrest in Barcelona

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s government on Tuesday approved urgent measures on the country's housing crisis, after an outbreak of violence the night before in the coastal city of Barcelona saw tens of thousands taking to the streets.

The Barcelona turmoil late on Monday followed protests across the country over the weekend that demanded measures to resolve a crisis sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid, the country's capital.

In Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city, a severe weather alert over the weekend had forced organizers to reschedule the protest for Monday. What began as a massive peaceful march turned violent when groups of hundreds of hardcore activists clashed with police, throwing stones and setting fire to trash containers.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez 's government approved measures similar to those rejected by Parliament last Friday, which prompted his call for early elections on Nov. 29. The measures will be sent for ratification by an interim legislature, which remains active until the elections.

The smaller, interim legislature — known as “permanent commission” — is composed of 69 members, compared to the 350 that sit in the regular Parliament.

Alejandro Quiroga, professor of political science at Madrid’s Complutense University, told The Associated Press that the maneuver of having decrees approved by the interim legislature was constitutional but also a necessary politically move by Sánchez.

“I don’t think Sánchez had an alternative,” Quiroga said. “If you are calling early elections so you can keep the public’s focus on housing, you can’t just sit back and do nothing about it. That wouldn’t have been smart."

The new measures are to extend protection against evictions for vulnerable Spaniards until 2030, regulate room rentals, impose a new tax on seasonal rentals, ban speculative real estate purchases and give tax breaks to landlords, Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez told reporters last week.

Rising costs and a housing shortage are pricing many Spaniards out of the housing market, despite strong economic growth in Europe’s fourth-largest economy. The protesters have been demanding stronger protections for tenants, measures to combat fraud and a ban on evictions when alternative housing is unavailable.

Riot police use their batons to disperse protesters following a demonstration over Spain's housing crisis, hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A protesters holds a flag next to trash cans on fire during clashes with police following a demonstration over Spain's housing crisis, hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Riot police are pelted with rocks by protesters during clashes following a demonstration over Spain's housing crisis, hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Protesters set trash cans on fire during clashes with police following a demonstration over Spain's housing crisis, hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Tens of thousands march protesting the housing situation in Spain, just hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Francis Halzen won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for his efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos, tiny cosmic particles that scientists believe offer clues to how the universe evolved.

“It was a great surprise and I obviously didn’t expect it,” Halzen said, speaking to the committee by phone from Italy, in a call broadcast at the news conference to announce the winner.

Halzen said it was predicted before that he would win the Nobel Prize but the announcement still made him feel “strange.”

“I am working on a proposal, and I hope that this prize will help getting it approved,” he said to chuckles from the audience.

The Nobel Committee for Physics also said Halzen’s work was instrumental to the construction of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica.

“Francis Halzen realized that the ice at the South Pole could visualize these neutrino messengers from cosmos,” committee member Eva Olsson said during the news conference. “People joined him in the quest for these neutrino messengers. The messenger is bringing information from cosmos. They opened the door to distant galaxies and tell us about the processes of exploding stars.”

Born in Belgium, the 82-year-old scientist is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the U.S, which operates the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Efforts by The Associated Press to reach him were not immediately successful.

Neutrinos are tiny cosmic particles with a mind-bogglingly small mass. Yet they are everywhere: they spew from stars like the sun and trillions zip through our bodies every second.

Scientists can’t glimpse the mysterious ghost particles zooming around on their own. Instead, they measure what happens when the tiny particles collide with other bits of matter, producing flashes of light or charged particles.

Halzen helped pull the curtain back on a rare gang of neutrinos that scientists consider messengers from the cosmos, offering clues to how the universe evolved.

“This experiment in the Antarctic is a revolutionary way of understanding the universe that we didn’t have before,” said Michael Moloney, chief executive officer for the American Institute of Physics.

A representative from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory did not immediately return a request for comment. The University of Wisconsin–Madison did not immediately have a comment when reached by the AP.

Ellen Moons, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the award Tuesday in Stockholm. She is the first woman to head the prestigious academy and present the award.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), whether for an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.

Last year, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called quantum tunneling that enabled the ultrasensitive measurements achieved by MRI machines and laid the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers.

The announcements of this year's prizes began Monday with the Nobel Prize in medicine being awarded to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works.

This week's awards continue Wednesday with the chemistry prize and literature on Thursday. After Friday’s peace prize is awarded, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on Monday.

Dazio reported from Berlin and Ramakrishnan reported from New York. Alexa St. John in Detroit contributed to this report.

AP Nobel Prizes: https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-prizes

A portrait of Francis Halzen is shown on the screen during the announce of the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 6, 2026. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)

A portrait of Francis Halzen is shown on the screen as Eva Olsson, Ellen Moons, and Mark Pearce announce as the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 6, 2026. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)

FILE - A Nobel diploma and medal are displayed, Dec. 8, 2020, during a ceremony in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - A bust of Alfred Nobel on display following a press conference to announce the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct. 3, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File)