Thousands protest housing crisis in Madrid after elderly woman's eviction

Thousands of people marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest Spain's escalating housing crisis and to demand greater protections for tenants, anti-fraud measures, and a moratorium on evictions when no alternative housing is available.

The recent eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid apartment after decades of residency served as a catalyst for the demonstration. María del Carmen Abascal, who had lived in the upscale Retiro neighborhood, was carried out on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance amidst a crowd of protesters and supporters.

According to the Madrid Tenants' Union, Abascal's father had rented the property in 1956, and she remained the tenant after her parents' deaths, benefiting from a rent cap during that period. The building's ownership changed in 2018, and Abascal was offered the chance to purchase the apartment, a prospect she could not afford.

Urbagestión, an investment fund that subsequently acquired the unit, initially increased Abascal's monthly rent from 500 euros ($570) to 2,650 euros. Although the rent was later reduced to 1,650 euros, it remained unaffordable on her pension, the union stated. Courts had previously blocked three eviction attempts.

Abascal became a symbol of Spain's housing crisis, with her situation receiving extensive media attention. "I haven’t managed to defend my home, but I have fought so that others can learn to fight for what’s theirs," Abascal said in a video shared from her hospital bed after the eviction.

Rising housing costs and a shortage of available homes are increasingly pricing Spaniards out of the market, despite the country's strong economic performance. Incomes have not kept pace with the cost of living, and factors such as tourism and population growth in urban centers have intensified pressure on the limited housing supply.

The Bank of Spain estimated a national housing shortage of approximately 550,000 homes last year, with significant deficits in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. Spain has a low proportion of publicly owned rental housing compared to other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, with public rental housing representing less than 2% of the total supply, compared to an EU average of 8%. Historically, Spain has seen publicly funded housing sold into private ownership, reducing the stock of public housing.