The eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid home has become a focal point for growing anger over Spain’s worsening housing crisis, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand stronger protections for tenants.
María del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, was removed from the apartment where she had lived for decades and taken away on a stretcher. Her father had originally rented the property in 1956, and the tenancy passed to her after her parents died.
The building changed ownership in 2018. The new owner subsequently increased her monthly rent from about €500 to €2,650 before reducing it to €1,650, which remained beyond what she could afford on her pension. Three previous eviction attempts had been blocked.
Her case has since triggered demonstrations in Madrid and other Spanish cities, with protesters demanding stronger tenant protections, measures against housing fraud and restrictions on evictions where no alternative accommodation is available.
The wider crisis is linked to rising housing costs and a shortage of available homes. The Bank of Spain estimates the country was short about 550,000 homes last year, while public rental housing accounts for less than 2% of the housing supply, compared with an EU average of 8%.
Leave a comment