Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman Sparks Madrid Protests
Police removed hundreds of protesters as the eviction intensified Spain’s housing debate over rent hikes, public housing shortages and tenant protections.
- On Wednesday, September 23, 2026, police evicted 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Retiro flat in Madrid after she lived there for 70 years, removing her on a stretcher as hundreds of protesters clashed with officers outside.
- Investment firm Urbagestión purchased the building in 2018 and invoked a legal loophole to raise Abascal's rent from €500 to €2,650 monthly; Spain's Supreme Court ruled in the firm's favor in March 2026, clearing the path for eviction.
- In June 2026, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights requested the eviction be halted and alternative housing provided, while an anonymous donor offered to cover the rent difference; the landlord rejected both.
- Housing Minister Teresa Rodríguez called the eviction a "sad and dramatic day," while protesters drew sharp comparisons to Regional President Isabel Díaz Ayuso's controversial €6.3 million penthouse purchase, which critics allege was intended for personal use.
- The case has reignited national debate over Spain's housing crisis, where soaring rents, gentrification, and speculative investment funds deepen social tensions and fuel demands for stronger tenant protections and rent controls.
446 Articles
446 Articles
Imagine that he is 87 years old and lives in the same house. One morning, the police come to dump him and get out of there on a stretcher. It happened in Madrid in September. Besides the titles, I ask: is this fear why we prefer the bank to the landlord?
Shocking moment pensioner, 87, is evicted - setting Spain's housing crisis alight
MADRID – When an octogenarian was evicted last week from the home she had lived in for 70 years, it kicked off a wave of protests across Spain. Maricarmen Abascal, who was carried out of her home on a stretcher, has become a symbol of the plight of thousands across the country who face soaring rents amid an acute housing shortage. Hundreds of tents have been pitched in Puerta del Sol, a Madrid square that is one of the Spanish capital’s most fam…
Sydney Morning Herald
They broke down an 87-year-old’s door with a battering ram. Then Spain erupted
The eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, who was carried out of her home of 70 years on a stretcher, has become a lightning rod for nationwide protests against Spain’s housing crisis.
Svenska Dagbladet
Police broke down the door to the apartment. 87-year-old Maricarmen was carried out on a stretcher and taken to hospital. The eviction has become a symbol of the housing crisis in Spain, where rents have risen sharply in recent years.
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