The forced eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal has sparked mass protests in Spain against high rents. The retiree is now allowed to return to her Madrid apartment — but the fight for affordable housing continues.
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For 70 years, an apartment in Madrid’s Retiro neighborhood was Maricarmen Abascal’s home. Then the 87-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, was carried out of the building on a stretcher. “I’ve lived here for 71 years and I don’t want to leave,” she said. Images of the eviction spread throughout the country. The pensioner’s plight became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis.
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According to her supporters, Maricarmen had always paid her rent. However, following a change in ownership, the monthly rent reportedly rose from around 500 euros to 2,650 euros (567 dollars to 3,000 dollars), an amount the retiree could not afford. After the eviction, she was admitted to the hospital exhausted. Meanwhile, outrage over her case is growing, as seen in these mass protests in Madrid.
Image: Oscar Del Pozo/AFP
A protest camp sprang up overnight at Puerta del Sol. About 100 tents were set up in one of the Spanish capital’s most famous squares, and tens of thousands of people marched through the streets. They demanded lower rents and better protection against evictions. “We have to put an end to putting capital and investment funds before people,” a 29-year-old who spent the night in the square said.
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Even though Maricarmen can return home, the protests continue. People also took to the streets in the cities of Vigo, Malaga and Barcelona. They called for a rent freeze, open-ended leases and greater protection against evictions — to prevent Maricarmen’s fate from happening to others.
Image: Adrián Irago/Europa Press/IMAGO
The protest has now reached the political arena. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government is working on new measures to address the housing crisis. However, a majority in Parliament is by no means guaranteed; a similar initiative has already failed. The protesters are therefore demanding structural changes rather than short-term solutions.
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For many younger Spaniards in particular, owning an apartment is now virtually out of reach. “It was like a jungle,” said a 32-year-old teacher about her search. Renting is a struggle, too: Within a decade, the average asking rent per square meter has nearly doubled. At the same time, there is a shortage of hundreds of thousands of apartments nationwide.
Image: Adrián Irago/Europa Press/IMAGO
After days of anxiety, a positive outcome is in sight for Maricarmen: she will be able to return to her apartment. Her attorney, Beatriz Duro, says an agreement has been reached with the landlords. The new rent will be roughly the same as before. For Duro, this breakthrough is also a result of the protests. As soon as the retiree is able to leave the hospital, she will move back home.
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