Pensioner’s eviction sparks mass protest in Madrid over housing crisis

Tens of thousands of people marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest the eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal from an apartment in the city’s Retiro neighbourhood, according to the Associated Press.

Many protesters remained overnight in the historic Puerta del Sol plaza, where more people, including multigenerational families, joined a second day of demonstrations on Sunday. Protesters are demanding stronger tenant protections, anti-fraud rules and a ban on evictions without alternative housing.

Alicia del Río, a spokeswoman for the Tenants’ Union, which led the protests, said the group would remain in the plaza until the government passes new laws, including indefinite rental contracts, and stops evictions such as Abascal’s. She said protesters planned to camp there at least until next Tuesday, when Spain’s Socialist-led government is expected to announce new measures at a cabinet meeting.

Abascal, whom protesters call “Maricarmen”, was taken from her apartment on a stretcher and greeted by supporters as she was loaded into an ambulance.

Spanish media reported that Abascal’s father first rented the apartment in 1956 and that she continued living there under rent controls after her parents died. The building changed ownership in 2018. According to the Madrid Tenants’ Union, Abascal was offered the chance to buy the apartment but could not afford it.

The union said Urbagestión, an investment fund that later bought the unit, raised her monthly rent from €500 to €2,650 before reducing it to €1,650. Abascal was still unable to afford the rent on her pension, the union said.

Rising housing costs and a shortage of homes are pricing many Spaniards out of the market despite strong economic growth, the Associated Press reported. Incomes have not kept pace with housing costs, while tourism and immigration-driven population growth in cities have added pressure to limited supply.

The Bank of Spain estimated that Spain had a shortage of about 550,000 homes last year, with Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia accounting for a substantial share. Spain also ranks near the bottom of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for subsidised public rental housing, which accounts for less than 2% of the country’s housing stock, compared with an EU average of 8%.

The demonstrations in Puerta del Sol recalled the protests that began there on 15 May 2011, when members of the “indignados” movement camped in the plaza for 28 days. Political scientist and columnist Estefania Molina said that while people protested in 2011 because they could not buy an apartment, the current protest was about being unable to rent a room in someone else’s home.