A housing crisis engulfing Spain has now reached such great proportions that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an early election on Monday. Sánchez called the election for 29 November in a bid to strengthen his support after huge demonstrations across Spain over the weekend, but it is a major gamble – if it backfires, it
A housing crisis engulfing Spain has now reached such great proportions that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an early election on Monday.
Sánchez called the election for 29 November in a bid to strengthen his support after huge demonstrations across Spain over the weekend, but it is a major gamble – if it backfires, it could usher in the far-right at a time when populism is making gains across Europe.
Experts say the UK faces similar problems to Spain in terms of a lack of affordable housing and rising prices that outpace wages, as well as the growing threat of the hard right.
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The councils where parents could get potty training support
Caption: Mother training her toddler to use the potty Photographer: filadendron Provider: Getty Images Source: E+
More parents in England are set to receive extra support with toilet training their children before they start primary school.
Here’s what we know.
Potty pilot progress
A pilot, trialled by City of York Council, saw potty-training advice sent to 1,700 families alongside school place offer letters in April, followed by a reduction in the number of children starting reception without being toilet trained compared to last year.
(Photo: Ian West/PA Wire)Children hardest hit by Covid restrictions have regressed in basic skills, Ofsted has said (Photo: Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
A survey of teachers by charity Kindred Squared, which funded the pilot, suggested around one in four children who started reception in 2025 were not toilet trained.
More about the scheme
Workshops
Parent workshops and teacher training sessions were arranged to help with toilet training four-year-olds.
Community collaboration
Leaflets were provided to GPs surgeries and libraries to help encourage families, rather than blame them.
Results
There has been a 42 per cent decrease in the proportion of children starting school not toilet trained in York, the results from the pilot suggest.
‘Teachers losing a day a week’
Felicity Gillespie, chief executive of Kindred Squared, said parents and carers have been calling for “clear, concise, targeted advice” and that on average, teachers have been “losing the equivalent of a day a week of teaching time helping children who are not able to go to the toilet themselves”.
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Outnumbered
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More classroom time
I think the biggest impact for us has been that we don’t have to spend so much time changing children now.
Jo Mould, a teacher at Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy, one of 55 schools which took part in the pilot, said it allowed teachers to spend more time in the classroom.
‘At the beginning of September this year, my daughter started at her local state school, the result has, so far, surprised me’ (Photo: Giles Jenkyn)
Safeguarding measures mean it takes two members of staff to change a child’s nappy, which takes time away from other children.
Making a ‘real difference’
Toilet training can be one of the biggest milestones in a child’s early years, so it’s encouraging to see this pilot helping more children develop the confidence and independence they need before starting school. When children are supported to take these important steps early, it can make a real difference to how they settle in, make friends and start learning.
Paul Waugh, minister for early education
Ministers insist special schools will always play a vital role for children with complex needs (Photo: 10’000 Hours/Getty)
More to follow?
Some 20 councils in England are now looking at following the York pilot, including:
Suffolk
North Lincolnshire
Hampshire
Rotherham
Halton
London Borough of Redbridge and Solihull
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Mortgage rates hit three-year high – here’s what to do
Mortgage rates are increasing as inflation is expected to stay higher for longer due to conflict in the Middle East (Photo: Getty)
Callum Mason
Deputy Money Editor
Mortgage rates are at their highest since 2023, with just nine sub-5 per cent fixed deals available.
The average two-year rate has reached 5.98 per cent and the five-year rate 6 per cent – their highest levels since December and September 2023, respectively.
Iran war stokes inflation fears
The past month has seen major banks hike prices several times, as financial traders have begun to expect that inflation will stay higher for longer as a result of the US-Iran war. Barclays increased fixed rates on four occasions, while HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide, NatWest, Santander and TSB each made three rounds of increases.
Analysts have warned the Bank of England may have to raise its base rate above 4 per cent if energy prices remain high as a result of the war (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Vanishing act for fixed deals
1,494
There were 1,494 sub-5 per cent fixed deals at the start of September.
However, 1,385 of these have since vanished, according to Moneyfacts.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, said volatility has had a “brutal” impact on fixed mortgage rates.
Nick Mendes, of John Charcol brokers, added that further increases “are likely while markets stay this unsettled”.
Huge impact on households
Caption: Person working at a home desk checking a receipt while entering amounts on financial paperwork with a calculator. Household finance organization, annual filing documents, tax preparation materials and general personal budgeting content. Photographer: portishead1 Provider: Getty Images Source: E+
Borrowers coming off fixed rates face a significant jump in payments.
On a £250,000 mortgage with a 30-year repayment term, the difference between a five and six per cent rate is about £150 a month.
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If you have a mortgage expiring later this year…
Compare a wide range of lenders and banks – don’t settle for the one you’re currently with.
Consider speaking to a broker to help you, as these are professionals who often have access to deals you can’t find online directly.
Most lenders will let you lock in a rate several months before yours ends, help you avoid going on to a standard variable rate.
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What to do if you’re buying…
Nationwide’s rate reservation tool lets you book a rate for up to 90 days.
Aaron Strutt, of Trinity Financial, said Nationwide’s rate reservation tool offers an exception to the general rule that if you’re buying a home, you need the seller to accept your offer before you can submit a full mortgage application.
Experts say it is still worth considering other lenders, though, to find your best fit.
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New James Bond novel in the works from historian Dan Jones
(Photo: AP Photo/Sony Pictures).
Historian Dan Jones is set to pen a new James Bond novella as part of celebrations for the National Year of Reading.
The story was announced on 5 October, also known as James Bond Day as it was the date the first 007 film, Dr No, which premiered in 1962.
Out this year
Where and when?
The new story will see Bond in Sri Lanka, in 1954 as the British are leaving.
Galle is a highlight of the south coast (Photo: RooM RF/Getty Images)
Caption: Actor Sean Connery on set of the movie James Bond: Never Say Never Again, directed by Irvin Kershner. (Photo by Bob Penn/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images) Photographer: Bob Penn Provider: Bob Penn Source: Sygma
Paying homage
The story, titled All In, will pay homage to Ian Fleming’s fourth Bond novel, Diamonds Are Forever, 70 years after it was first published.
Available soon
It will be published as a special edition via ianflemingshop.com on 3 December.
A James Bond-themed installation at London’s Burlington Arcade (Photo: David M. Benett/ Getty Images)
‘A pivotal moment in history’
Being asked to write a JamesBond story is one of the greatest honours in contemporary fiction. I’m very excited to take Bond to Ceylon at such a pivotal moment in world history – and thrilled that Ian Fleming Publications are trusting me to pay tribute to Diamonds Are Forever, which is one of the great books in the Bond canon.
Dan Jones, historian and author
James Bond will be reboote with new stories set in a world of uncertain alliances, the spy’s publisher said (Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
Fleming’s character lives on
Fleming wrote 12 Bond novels and two short-story collections between 1953 and his death in 1964. Numerous continuation authors have since added to the canon, most recently Charlie Higson with King Zero, released in September.
On the silver screen, there has been a long-running search for the next actor to play Bond since Daniel Craig’s departure.
Ian Fleming died in 1964, 12 years after completing the first Bond novel, Casino Royale (photo – Getty)
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YOUR NEXT READ
The five best history books of all time, according to Dan Jones
Anna Bonet
Senior Writer and Commissioning Editor
Dan Jones has spent much of his career bringing some of history’s most colourful characters and turbulent periods back to life. So, when Jones picks up a history book for pleasure, it has a high bar to clear.
BBC appoint Rachel Jupp as news and current affairs director
The BBC has appointed Rachel Jupp, its former director of documentaries and long-form journalism, as the corporation’s new director of news and current affairs.
It comes nearly a year after the previous chief, Deborah Turness, resigned following the fallout over how BBC Panorama edited a speech by Donald Trump.
Big Read
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Trump-Panorama controversy
The Panorama controversy that led to Turness’ resignation centred on a documentary about Trump’s role in the 6 January Capitol riot in 2021.
The documentary was accused of misleading viewers by splicing together parts of his speech delivered at different points. The row prompted a wider crisis over the BBC’s editorial standards.
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‘An outstanding editorial leader’
Having joined the BBC in 2013, Jupp’s previous roles include editorial executive for BBC Content, editor of Panorama and deputy editor of Newsnight.
Jupp, whose new role starts this month, said she was “honoured” to “lead BBC News”. BBC director-general Matt Brittin described Jupp her as “an outstanding editorial leader”.
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Undated BBC handout photo of Rachel Jupp who has ben appointed as the new director of news and current affairs for the BBC. Jupp, who is currently director of BBC News documentaries and longform journalism, will begin her new role next month. Issue date: Monday October 5, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: BBC/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: Not for use more than 21 days after issue. You may use this picture without charge only for the purpose of publicising or reporting on current BBC programming, personnel or other BBC output or activity within 21 days of issue. Any use after that time MUST be cleared through BBC Picture Publicity. Please credit the image to the BBC and any named photographer or independent programme maker, as described in the caption. Photographer: BBC Provider: BBC/PA Wire Source: PA
Analysis
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Stepping in as redundancies loom
The BBC wants ministers to set a date to switch-off digital TV signals which are being used by fewer viewers in the streaming era (Getty)
Sweeping cuts
Jupp will have responsibility for a team of 4,500 people and will be paid a salary of £400,000.
Sweeping cuts
It comes as the BBC continues to make sweeping jobs cuts.
BBC staff on the picket line at Broadcasting House in central London, protestoing over changes to local radio programming. Journalists face interviews to keep their jobs (photo – PA)
The corporation is set to cut 2,000 jobs under a three-year savings plan (Photo: Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images)
Bid to save £500m
Between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs are set to be axed in an attempt to save £500m over two years amid “significant financial pressures”.
Spain has built fewer homes per capita than any other developed country over the past ten years and has a shortfall of 750,000 houses, according to the Bank of Spain. Half of all young adults now live with their parents in Spain, up from 33 per cent in 2005, according to research by the Real Elcano Institute, a think-tank in Madrid. Rents in Spain have doubled in the past decade, according to the Spanish central bank.
In Britain, the Government has promised to build 1.5 million homes during this parliament, but analysts say this is not enough. A 2025 report for the Centre for Policy Studies, a centre-right UK think-tank, found Britain had a shortfall of 6.5 million homes, based on 2023 figures.
Polls show Sánchez’s Socialist Party and left-wing allies trailing a possible coalition of the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox. A survey published in El País newspaper in September showed that the PP and Vox would attract over half of all votes for the first time.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a snap election for 29 November (Photo: Cristina Quicler/AFP)
Steven Forti, a professor of contemporary history at the Autonomous University in Barcelona, said this was a warning for Britain over the potential rise of parties including Reform UK that are also “anti-globalisation, liberalism, wokeism, political-correctness, and in favour of re-emigration”.
Andy Burnham’s Labour Government is experiencing its highest ratings since its landslide victory in 2024, prompting calls for an early election. But despite its steady lead over Reform UK in the polls, Labour remains under threat from Nigel Farage’s party.
A poll tracker for The Economist published on 2 October found Labour garnered 27 per cent of votes, Reform 22 per cent, and the Conservatives 20 per cent.
If Sánchez loses the election in Spain, it would spell the end of one of Europe’s last left-leaning governments at a time when populism and the far-right have made gains in Germany, Italy and France.
Spain’s government is one of the few in Europe to encourage migration, which has led to a surge in new arrivals. One in five of the population of nearly 50 million was not born in the country.
Like Burnham, Sanchez has several advantages. He presides over the fastest-growing economy in the eurozone, with growth predicted to rise by 2.4-2.6 per cent this year compared with the eurozone average of 0.8-1.1 per cent.
He is a skilled political operator and has also been lauded as one of the few international leaders to stand up to Donald Trump by condemning the war in Iran and Israel’s war in Gaza.
But all this may not be enough. Many Spaniards cannot forgive the prime minister for bringing in an amnesty for Catalan separatists who were jailed for provoking the worst political crisis in decades when they staged a failed independence bid in 2017.
Corruption scandals involving Sánchez’s family and close aides and the perceived mishandling of the Ceuta migrant incursion this summer have also alienated voters from the Socialist leader.
The housing protests were triggered by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid flat where she had lived for decades, which is owned by an investment company. A European Commission report on housing needs on the continent found Madrid and Barcelona were among the areas with the biggest need for house building – with the country’s surging tourist sector and the arrival of digital nomads pushing up house prices.
Sánchez’s party proposed banning investors from buying homes until 2028 and offering renters more protection, but this was defeated in a key vote in parliament on Friday, prompting tens of thousands to take to the streets.
Now, Spain is facing major upheaval and instability. The rest of Europe would be wise to look for lessons on how to avoid such a fate.
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