The eviction of Mari Carmen Abascal, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a 'social tragedy,' triggered thousands of people to take to the streets of Madrid on Wednesday.
Mari Carmen Abascal, who was 87 at the time, was evicted by police from a home where she had lived for 70 years in central Madrid. The eviction took place to enforce a court order supported by an investment fund that had acquired the apartment.
Sánchez promised to urgently present a housing bill to parliament to resolve such cases and issues related to difficult access to housing for various social groups.
In the following days, it became known that the left-wing governing parties (the Socialist Party and Sumar) resumed negotiations with parliamentary groups such as JxCat (conservatives) to ensure the law's passage by deputies.
Some ministers took on the task of presenting this document at the next Council of Ministers on Tuesday, although there is no certainty about the near-term timeline.
Following the high-profile eviction of Mari Carmen Abascal, which was broadcast for hours on television while hundreds of people blocked access to the apartment and the police forcibly removed them, the elderly woman was eventually taken away on a stretcher by rescuers, leading not only to shock and outrage. There were also exchanges of accusations and blame regarding the consequences of real estate speculation.
Sánchez, leader of the Spanish Government and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), demanded accountability from the right-wing parties for blocking legislative initiatives in parliament. He also reminded regional executive bodies of their duty to protect vulnerable people in housing matters.
More specifically, Sánchez criticized the regional government of Madrid led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso of the Popular Party (PP, right-wing), stating that it 'cares more about buying and selling two-hundred-square-meter houses with terraces using public money than about solving cases like Mari Carmen's.'
Sánchez referenced a scandal that had been ongoing for several weeks concerning Ayuso due to suspicions that an apartment recently purchased by the regional administration in the capital's center was intended for the president's personal use, which she denies.
In response, Ayuso and national PP leaders expressed regret over the political use of the Mari Carmen Abascal case by Sánchez. They pointed out that a judicial decision had been carried out in accordance with the law, which Sánchez has not changed despite having been in government for eight years.
Mari Carmen Abascal had lived in the same apartment in the Retiro district, Madrid, since 1956 and had been fighting against the threat of eviction for the last eight years after the house was sold and fell into the hands of an investment fund.
The rent of 500 euros was increased to 1650 euros, exceeding her pension of 1450 euros, and the court ruling ultimately ordered the eviction.
In recent weeks, at least two people offered to pay the rent demanded by the new owner, but the investment fund rejected any agreements, according to the Madrid Tenants' Union. This association mobilized around the case in recent years, making it media attention and a symbol of the housing crisis in Spanish and European cities.
Spain's Ombudsman Ángel Gabilondo, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and Spanish national team footballer Borja Iglesias, among other figures, condemned the Mari Carmen case, calling for an urgent response to this woman and other vulnerable people evicted from their homes.
According to official data, an average of 44 evictions occur daily in Spain this year. Over 10 years, the average price per square meter of rent in the country has almost doubled, reaching 15.1 euros/m² in August, according to the real estate portal Idealista. Regarding purchase, it currently stands at 2355 euros, representing an increase of more than 50% over the same period, according to official data.
Thousands of people—10,000 people, according to authorities—took to the streets of Madrid on Wednesday to protest Mari Carmen's eviction and housing access issues. Hundreds of others also protested on the same day in Barcelona and Oviedo. For this day, the Madrid Tenants' Union scheduled a rally in the afternoon in the Spanish capital under the slogan 'No more Mari Carmens.'