Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was dragged from her Madrid apartment on a stretcher in September. Now her lawyer says she can move back in — and the deal that made it happen was sealed by the crowds that flooded the streets to demand help.
Abascal was forcibly removed from her flat on 23 September. She was admitted to hospital after the eviction. Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, said at a press conference that there had been “goodwill from both parties.” Under the arrangement now agreed, Abascal will pay a similar amount of rent under a new contract, averting a significant price hike.
The story of how she got there is a long one, and it runs through half a century of Spanish housing policy, corporate buyouts, and three failed eviction attempts. It also runs through a national protest movement that has made Abascal a symbol of a wider problem: a country running short of homes, where landlords and tenants are locked in a fight over who pays the difference.
Abascal’s Long Tenancy
Abascal’s father first rented the property in 1956. She continued as tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a cap on the rent. That cap protected her from the kind of sudden increase that finally forced her out.
Then came the change. In 2018, investment firm Urbagestión bought the property. The rent rose from â¬500 per month (£428; $572) to â¬2,650 (£2,280; $3,020). The company later offered to reduce the rent to â¬1,650 — but Abascal could not pay that with her monthly pension of â¬1,350.
Three previous eviction attempts were blocked by the courts. That kept her in the flat for years, but it also set the stage for the moment she could no longer hold on. When the stretcher arrived on 23 September, the crowd outside saw what the courts alone could not stop.
The Deal Behind the Press Conference
Duro said the agreement, yet to be signed, was the “result of the social mobilisation.” Abascal, being treated for exhaustion, would sign the deal when she feels better. The supporters called the outcome a victory but vowed to continue fighting similar evictions.
The deal means Abascal pays a similar amount under a new contract. That avoids the â¬2,650 price tag that triggered the eviction in the first place.
The fact that the deal came together at all is notable. Abascal’s case shows what happens when a landlord sees the political cost of proceeding — and what happens when a tenant who has been in a flat for nearly seven decades has few other options.
The Crowd That Made the Deal Possible
Nationwide protests followed the eviction, with tens of thousands marching through Madrid on Saturday. Protesters demanded stronger tenant protections amid a housing shortage and soaring rents. The demonstration was part of a broader movement that has pushed the government to respond to a crisis that affects families across Spain.
The protesters are not asking for handouts. They are asking for rules that stop landlords from raising rents beyond what tenants can afford. Abascal’s case became the face of that demand — a woman who had lived in the same flat since 1956, forced out by a company that bought it in 2018.
The march was not a one-off. It is part of a pattern of protests that have grown louder as the housing shortage deepens. The Bank of Spain estimates Spain is short of 700,000 homes, and the gap between supply and demand keeps pushing prices up.
The Political Context
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has promised housing relief measures ahead of his cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Sanchez’s Socialist Party lacks a majority in Parliament and hopes to pass a law to appease public outrage. The government is facing a wave of anger over evictions, and Abascal’s case has become a test of whether its promises hold.
Whether the law goes through remains to be seen — but the fact that Sanchez is promising one suggests he sees the political danger in letting the protests continue.
The Numbers Behind the Case
Here is what the story adds up to:
- Abascal was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment on a stretcher on 23 September
- Her father first rented the property in 1956
- The rent increased from â¬500 per month (£428; $572) to â¬2,650 (£2,280; $3,020)
- The company later offered to reduce the rent to â¬1,650
- Abascal’s pension is â¬1,350 per month
- Three previous eviction attempts were blocked by the courts
- Nationwide protests followed, with tens of thousands marching through Madrid on Saturday
- The Bank of Spain estimates Spain is short of 700,000 homes
The Fight Is Not Over
Supporters called the outcome a victory but vowed to continue fighting similar evictions. That is the key point. Abascal’s deal is one case, and one tenant. The movement that brought her back is not finished.
The protesters who marched in Madrid on Saturday are still angry. They want stronger protections for tenants. They are willing to keep showing up to get it.
The Socialist government faces a choice. It can pass a law that addresses the anger, or it can let the protests continue until the streets force its hand. The cabinet meeting on Tuesday will show which path Sanchez has chosen.
Where the Country Stands
Spain is short of homes, and the gap between supply and demand keeps pushing prices up. The result is that tenants who have lived in flats for decades suddenly find themselves unable to afford the rent.
The Bank of Spain estimates Spain is short of 700,000 homes. That shortage is driving the protests, and it is driving the government’s response. The Socialist Party’s promise of a law suggests it understands the scale of the problem — but the question is whether the law will go far enough to satisfy the people who took to the streets.
The protesters are not asking for handouts. They are asking for rules that stop landlords from raising rents beyond what tenants can afford. Abascal’s case became the face of that demand — a woman who had lived in the same flat since 1956, forced out by a company that bought it in 2018.
The march was not a one-off. It is part of a pattern of protests that have grown louder as the housing shortage deepens. The Bank of Spain estimates Spain is short of 700,000 homes, and the gap between supply and demand keeps pushing prices up.
The deal means Abascal can return to her flat. It means the rent will stay where it was. It does not solve the underlying problem — the shortage of homes — but it buys time for Abascal and sets a precedent for others facing the same threat.
The fight is not over. The supporters of Abascal have vowed to continue fighting similar evictions. That is the right position to take — and it is the position that Abascal’s case now supports.
The Socialist government faces a wave of anger over evictions. Abascal’s case has become a test of whether its promises hold. The cabinet meeting on Tuesday will show which path Sanchez has chosen.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs Maricarmen Abascal’s right to free speech and the crowds who demanded help, and is against any government or platform that would decide what may be said in her defense. The deal that allowed Abascal to return to her flat was sealed by the crowds that flooded the streets to demand help, and the paper believes that popular pressure should be able to protect a tenant without the state stepping in to determine the terms of the speech that secured it.
The fact that the deal came together at all is notable. Abascal’s case shows what happens when a landlord sees the political cost of proceeding — and what happens when a tenant who has been in a flat for nearly seven decades has few other options. The crowds did their work, and the paper stands behind the right of people to demand help, whatever form it takes.
What the reader should watch for is whether the Socialist government’s promised law actually addresses the underlying problem of a country short of homes, rather than simply offering temporary relief to individual cases. The protesters are not asking for handouts; they are asking for rules that stop landlords from raising rents beyond what tenants can afford. Abascal’s case became the face of that demand, and the crowds have vowed to continue fighting similar evictions. The fight is not over, and neither is the paper’s support for those who are demanding it.
Source material: “Evicted Spanish pensioner can move back home, lawyer says,” the BBC.
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