Madrid Protesters Rally After Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman

On Saturday, huge crowds filled the streets of central Madrid in response to the removal days earlier of an 87-year-old woman from the apartment she had called home for decades, and officials and organisers gave starkly different estimates of the crowd's size.⁵²¹

The eviction

According to Deutsche Welle, Maricarmen Abascal's father first rented the flat in Madrid's Retiro neighbourhood in 1956, and she continued living there after her parents died, under a rent cap. In 2018 ownership of the building passed to the investment fund Urbagestion, which acquired the unit and pushed her rent up from €500 to €2,650, DW reported. Unable to afford purchasing the flat when given that option, Abascal saw the fund later reduce her rent to €1,650, an amount she still could not manage, and DW noted that courts had halted her eviction on three prior occasions.¹

On Wednesday, according to the South China Morning Post and The Straits Times, officers forced open the door to Abascal's flat, removed her using a stretcher, and placed her in a waiting ambulance. She later appeared in an online video from a hospital bed urging Spaniards to act, the New York Times and The Straits Times reported. In the video, cited by the Times, she said: "Fight."⁵²⁴

The march

According to The Straits Times and Deutsche Welle, officials estimated Saturday's crowd at roughly 25,000, a figure the Madrid Tenants' Union disputed, claiming over 300,000 participants. Spanish broadcaster laSexta reported the Government Delegation's count as 25,000 against an organisers' estimate of 250,000. The South China Morning Post described demonstrators shaking keychains, blowing whistles, shouting chants and carrying signs.²¹³⁵

Demonstrators called for greater protection for tenants, according to France 24 and the South China Morning Post. Deutsche Welle reported that marchers, in a single-source account, also demanded stricter measures against fraud and a prohibition on evictions unless alternative housing is provided. laSexta reported that the march reached Congress, where the Tenants' Union began reading a manifesto, and that a banner in the central square called for a general strike.⁶⁵¹³

The camp in Puerta del Sol

After the rally, activists set up a protest camp in Puerta del Sol, with some pitching tents to stay overnight or until removed by police, Deutsche Welle reported. Police looked on as thousands of protesters surrounded about a dozen tents, according to DW and The Straits Times. laSexta reported that the Government Delegation counted 800 people and 20 tents in the square, with people continuing to arrive bringing tents, food and drink, and that the group Bomberxs contra los desahucios joined the encampment.¹²³

Actor and writer Carlos Bardem visited the camp and called for the movement to spread nationally, according to laSexta. Sociologist Ignacio Urquizu compared the mobilisation to Spain's 15M movement, describing the current wave as more cross-cutting, laSexta reported. Retiree and activist Antonio Jiménez characterised Abascal's eviction as a systemic failure, per the same source.³

Political response

Pedro Sanchez, described by France 24 as Spain's centre-left prime minister, has faced regular housing protests since Abascal's eviction, according to The Straits Times. The Straits Times and France 24 reported that his administration is set to sign off on a set of tenant-friendly proposals, which laSexta has dubbed the "Maricarmen decree," during its upcoming cabinet session. laSexta noted a similar bill had previously been defeated.²⁶³

Deutsche Welle reported that rental prices have surged in Spain's major cities in recent years, and that gentrification along with a shortage of affordable housing have fuelled public discontent ahead of a general election. The South China Morning Post noted the election is due in 2027. DW also cited pressure from tourism and immigration-driven population growth on housing supply, and a Bank of Spain estimate of a shortage of 550,000 homes nationwide last year.¹⁵