Spain: 87-year-old woman can return home after eviction sparked protests, lawyer says

An 87-year-old woman, who was evicted from her home in Madrid last week, sparking protests, can return to the apartment she had lived in for decades, her lawyer has said. 

Maricarmen Abascal will ‌pay a rent similar to the one she had under a new eight-year contract agreed with the building's owner, her lawyer Beatriz Duro told reporters on Monday.

Ms Abascal, who was taken to hospital after being evicted, will sign the deal once she feels better, Ms Duro said.

Last week, the octogenarian was given just 30 minutes to leave with only essential belongings before she was forcibly removed from the building on a stretcher, accompanied by social services officials.

Ms Abascal, a wheelchair user, was driven away in an ambulance as supporters chanted "Murderers!" and "Maricarmen, you're not alone!"

Her eviction sparked protests over Spain's housing crisis, with 30,000 demonstrators marching through the city on Saturday, some chanting, shaking keys, setting off flares and carrying banners with slogans including: "Speculators go home" and: "Housing is for living".

The apartment, in the capital's affluent Retiro neighbourhood, had been acquired by an investment fund that wanted to sharply increase her rent.

"I've lived here for 71 years and I don't want to leave," Ms Maricarmen told reporters on the eve of her eviction on Wednesday.

Her removal sparked tense scenes outside, where police forcibly removed demonstrators blocking the entrance.

"I haven't managed to defend my home, but I have fought so that others can learn to fight for what's theirs," Ms Abascal said in a video shared on Friday by the tenants' union. The video was recorded from her hospital bed following the eviction.

"Please, fight," she urged the demonstrators, who were calling for protective measures for tenants, anti-fraud rules, and a ban on evictions without alternative housing.

By Saturday evening, crowds were marching through the city, carrying signs, chanting, and setting off flares, with some pitching tents in the popular Puerta del Sol public square for a sit-in protest.

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Ms Abascal's father first rented the property in 1956, and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a rent cap, Spanish media reported.

The building changed ownership in 2018, and Ms Abascal was offered the chance to buy it, but could not afford it, according to the Madrid Tenants' Union, which organised the protest on Saturday.

Investment fund Urbagestion, which later bought the unit, raised her monthly rent from €500 (£430) to €2,650 (£2,278).

It then lowered the rent to €1,650 (£1,419), which Ms Abascal still could not afford on her pension, the union said.

Courts blocked three previous attempts to evict her.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described her eviction as "a social tragedy that we cannot accept either as a country or, of course, from the perspective of public institutions".

Ms Abascal has become a symbol of Spain's housing crisis.

The case highlights heightened pressure on ​long-term tenants in major Spanish cities, where soaring rents, gentrification and a lack of affordable housing have sparked ​social and political tensions.

The left-wing coalition government and conservative-led Madrid regional government are at odds over how to deal with the issue.

Tourism and immigration-driven population growth in cities have placed further pressure on the limited housing supply, according to analysts.

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