Thousands March in Madrid Over Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman

Thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday to protest the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the home where she had lived for about 70 years.

The demonstration has turned the elderly woman’s eviction into a wider protest over Spain’s housing crisis, with protesters demanding stronger tenant protections and action against rising housing costs.

Abascal was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment on Wednesday after police broke down the door.

Images of the elderly woman being carried out of the property on a stretcher triggered widespread anger and renewed attention on housing affordability in Spain.

Rent increased by 275 per cent

According to Spain’s main tenants’ union, the property was acquired by a real estate company which subsequently increased Abascal’s rent by 275 per cent to €2,650 a month.

The increase ultimately placed the apartment beyond what she could afford and culminated in the eviction after a prolonged legal dispute.

Abascal later appealed to Spaniards to use her experience to push for changes to housing laws.

“I want what has happened to me to serve so that it does not happen to other people,” she said in a video message from hospital, where she was being treated for exhaustion following the eviction.

Saturday’s protesters marched through central Madrid carrying banners and chanting for measures that would make evictions more difficult and curb the rising cost of housing.

One banner carried a warning: “You could be the next Maricarmen.”

Pressure mounts on Spanish government

The case has also increased political pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government, which has previously pledged to make housing a priority.

Spanish authorities are reportedly considering measures that could include automatic renewal of rental contracts and additional restrictions on evictions.

However, the passage of any new package through parliament remains uncertain because the government does not hold a majority.

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For many of those who marched, Abascal’s case has become larger than one eviction.

It has become a symbol of the growing argument over whether elderly and vulnerable tenants can remain in homes they have occupied for decades as property values and rents rise. ValidViewNetwork reports.