Eviction of 87-Year-Old Sparks Encampment Protest in Madrid over Housing Crisis
- Protesters occupied Madrid's Puerta del Sol with roughly 100 tents on Saturday, demanding housing reforms following the eviction last week of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her home of 70 years.
- A real estate firm raised Abascal's rent by 275 percent to €2,650 , forcing her eviction; activists blame investment funds and short-term rentals like Airbnb for driving up housing prices across Madrid.
- Campaigners demand lifelong rental contracts and increased public housing, warning they will reject the government's 'Maricarmen decree' if it offers only partial measures. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected to approve the package at the next cabinet meeting.
- Demonstrators including Sergio, a 28-year-old NGO employee, remain skeptical of government intentions, vowing to stay 'as long as necessary.' Police have shown little sign of forcibly removing the encampment.
- Protesters insist they 'won't be satisfied with crumbs,' seeking deep structural reforms to a housing market they argue favors landlords. Tennis instructor Alberto Macias calls Abascal's eviction 'the final straw,' pledging sustained pressure.
54 Articles
54 Articles
Eviction of 87-Year-Old Sparks Ongoing Protest in Madrid
Protesters outraged by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman camped overnight in Madrid's historic Puerta del Sol plaza, where more demonstrators—included multigeneral families—joined them on Sunday for a second day of protests over Spain's housing crisis. Tens of thousands marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest the eviction...
After her eviction, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said it was a "social tragedy" that could not be accepted and announced new measures.
"We are ready. Tenants' unions have brought tents, sleeping bags, portable batteries — all we need to be comfortable with," says AFP David Muller-Plantenberg on Sunday, who is one of the hundreds of protesters who camped on the vast Puerta del Sol on Saturday night, after a demonstration to protest against the expulsion Wednesday of a 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascal, from the house where she had lived all her life. "We must make the most o…
Tourists and passers-by walk around, take pictures, buy an ice cream, head to the subway... and a few meters away, in the heart of Madrid, hundreds of housing rights activists prepare their camp to stay as long as necessary to advance their cause.
abc
INTELLINEWSDozens of tents have dawned this Sunday in the central Madrid square of Puerta del Sol, after the massive demonstration held on Saturday night against housing policies. The protest was motivated, to a large extent, by the eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman who was expelled this week from the house where she had resided for more than seven decades. The campers have put the focus on housing measures that the Council of Ministers plans to…
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