Tens of Thousands Protest Madrid Housing Crisis After Pensioner's Eviction

Tens of thousands of people marched through Madrid over the weekend and set up a tent camp at Puerta del Sol after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman became a rallying point for anger over Spain's housing crisis, according to multiple accounts published Sept 27-29.²³⁴⁸

The eviction

Maricarmen Abascal, 87 and living with a disability, was removed from her Madrid apartment on a stretcher and taken to hospital, according to the BBC and Deutsche Welle. Her family had rented the flat in the Retiro neighbourhood since her father first took it in 1956. The investment firm Urbagestión bought the property in 2018 and raised the rent from €500 to €2,650 a month, an increase the Straits Times put at 275 percent; her monthly pension is €1,350. Courts had blocked three previous eviction attempts.²⁴¹

Urbagestión had offered to lower the rent to €1,650, according to the BBC. The eviction went ahead this month, with sources giving the date as Sept 28 or describing it only as occurring in September.²⁶

Protests and encampment

News of the eviction set off marches across Madrid and, according to Deutsche Welle, solidarity protests elsewhere in Spain. Demonstrators spent a third consecutive night at Madrid's regional government building, with reports varying on the scale of the encampment, from about 100 tents to several hundred pitched at Puerta del Sol. Organisers and police cited very different crowd sizes for the Sept 26 demonstration: authorities put the figure at 25,000, while the Madrid Tenants' Union claimed more than 300,000 took part, according to the Straits Times.⁸⁷⁴

The Guardian described an encampment that kept expanding, with protesters comparing it to the 2011 Indignados occupation of the same square. Marta García, a 60-year-old retired schoolteacher at the camp, said, "This camp is an example of how people still believe that things can change." Guillermo Esteve, another protester, said, "We're a group of people who believe we can do things better." Reuters reported that around 2,000 people also gathered in Barcelona, with a further Barcelona protest planned for Tuesday evening.¹⁷

A deal and a government pledge

Lawyer Beatriz Duro said an agreement had been reached allowing Abascal to return home once she signs it, with Sweden Herald reporting the new lease would run eight years. Duro said, "There had been goodwill from both parties," and described the outcome as "the result of the social mobilisation." Representatives cited by ARA said Abascal would pay around 30 percent of her pension, roughly €500, once she ratifies the agreement.²⁶

Duro said she hoped the settlement would "help to change the paradigm when it comes to housing in general." Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the case a "social tragedy" and pledged that his government was preparing a royal decree on housing, due to go before the Council of Ministers on Tuesday; the measure is expected to include automatic renewal of rental contracts and new eviction restrictions. Deutsche Welle reported the bill falls short of protesters' demands for tougher action against landlords and a rent freeze, and Gulf News noted a similar bill was defeated earlier this year.¹³⁷

Housing pressures

The Guardian reported rents in Spain rose 80 percent within a decade and home costs climbed 63 percent, while Sweden Herald and Gulf News, citing Idealista figures, said typical rental prices in Madrid have roughly doubled during that ten-year span. Gulf News also cited buyer prices increasing more than 50 percent over the decade. France 24 attributed part of the surge in rental costs to tourism, noting it is pushing urban living in Spain further out of reach for many residents. Estimates of a nationwide housing shortfall of 700,000 homes attributed to the Bank of Spain by the BBC and Straits Times were disputed by Gulf News.¹⁹⁷⁵

Protesters interviewed by Gulf News described the strain. Carlota, 29, said, "We are living through a serious situation in Spain right now." Laura Requena, a 32-year-old teacher, said, "It's a jungle, it's impossible to become fully independent without flat-sharing," adding, "We can't make ends meet while having to pay a rent." Carme Arcarazo of the Catalan Tenants' Union said, Arcarazo said she rejected any decree that was merely symbolic, calling instead for genuine housing protections so no one else endures an ordeal like Maricarmen's.⁷

Political stakes

The Straits Times reported the housing problem has become a pressing issue ahead of Spain's 2027 general election, and noted that Sánchez's Socialist Party lacks a majority in Parliament, leaving it unclear whether the housing bill will be approved.⁴