Thousands march in Madrid over eviction of 87-year-old woman from lifelong home

Large crowds gathered in central Madrid on Saturday to voice anger over the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, who had lived in her flat for seven decades. Police broke down her door on Wednesday, and images of her being carried out on a stretcher have circulated widely, drawing renewed national attention to the country's housing struggles.

Demonstrators carried banners and chanted slogans calling for curbs on rising rents and tougher restrictions on evictions. One banner warned that anyone present could be the next Maricarmen. Estimates of the crowd size varied sharply: government officials put the number at around 25,000, while march organizers claimed roughly 300,000 people took part.

A message from hospital

Hours before the protest, Abascal, who is being treated in hospital for exhaustion following her eviction, released an online video urging fellow Spaniards to keep fighting for change. She said she hoped her experience would spare others from facing the same fate and help push for reform of the laws that allowed her removal.

According to Spain's main tenants' union, a real estate firm that acquired the building raised her rent by 275 percent, to 2,650 euros a month.

Mounting political pressure

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who pledged last year to prioritize housing policy, is facing growing pressure to act. His government is expected to bring a package of measures — dubbed the "Maricarmen decree" — to its next cabinet meeting, including automatic renewal of rental contracts and additional eviction restrictions. However, passage through parliament remains uncertain given the government's lack of a majority; a similar bill was rejected earlier this year.

The Bank of Spain has estimated a shortage of about 550,000 homes nationwide last year, concentrated heavily in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Public rental housing accounts for less than 2 percent of Spain's housing stock, compared with an 8 percent average across the European Union.