In brief
Maricarmen Abascal, an 87‑year‑old disabled resident of Madrid, was evicted after property owners raised her rent from €500 to €2,650 a month. The eviction, which forced her onto a stretcher, triggered mass protests that shut down streets across Spain. Her lawyer announced that a new lease—based on goodwill and her existing pension—will allow Abascal to return home. The incident underscores Spain’s mounting housing shortage, with an estimated 700,000 homes missing, and highlights the urgent need for stronger tenant protections.
Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment on a stretcher after property owners raised her rent from €500 to €2,650 a month.
After living in the flat for over seven decades, the elderly woman was admitted to hospital following the abrupt eviction on 23 September. Her case quickly became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, stirring protests that shut down streets in the capital and called for greater tenant protection.
Abascal’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told a press conference that both parties had shown “goodwill” and that the woman could sign a new lease—including a rent of €1,650 per month—that would keep her in the home without a sharp price hike.
The eviction was the fourth time the court had ruled against the property’s owners, yet the eviction still proceeded. The company that bought the building in 2018 had increased the rent to a level far above the 2001 limit, while Abascal’s pension of €1,350 a month left her unable to meet the new cost.
Massive protests followed, with tens of thousands marching through Madrid on Saturday to oppose the eviction and demand action on Spain’s shortfall of 700,000 homes, according to the Bank of Spain.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised housing relief measures, and the Socialist Party, which lacks a parliamentary majority, is working on a new law to address the public outrage.
