Madrid eviction of 87-year-old over 275% rent hike ignites Spain protests
Police in Madrid removed 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal on a stretcher after investment firm Urbangestión raised her monthly rent beyond her pension, triggering street demonstrations across Spanish cities.
Eviction in Retiro
Police executed the eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal from her central Madrid apartment on Wednesday, 23 September. The retired administrative employee, who has a 50% disability rating and reduced mobility, was removed from the building on a stretcher by paramedics and transported to a hospital before moving in with relatives. Hundreds of neighbours, housing activists, and cultural figures gathered outside the property on Calle Alcalde Sainz de Baranda in the Retiro district to block entry. Demonstrators barricaded the doorway with furniture before police cleared the crowd and carried out the eviction on the fourth judicial attempt.
Legal dispute and rent demands
Abascal had resided in the 92-square-metre apartment since 1956, when her father signed a lease under Franco-era rental regulations. The contract passed to her mother upon her father's death, and Abascal assumed the tenancy in 2005. The dispute began in 2018 after real estate investment firm Urbangestión purchased the property for 240,000 euros and contested the lease, arguing that Spanish legislation restricts lifetime contracts from undergoing more than one subrogation. The company imposed a 275% rent increase, demanding 2,650 euros per month, and later reduced the demand to 1,650 euros per month. Both figures exceeded Abascal's monthly pension of 1,350 euros, after she had previously paid roughly 500 euros per month. In March 2026, Spain's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Urbangestión.
- Previous rent
- 500 €
- Monthly pension
- 1350 €
- Revised rent demand
- 1650 €
- Initial rent demand
- 2650 €
- Father signs initial lease for the apartment in Madrid's Retiro district
- Maricarmen Abascal assumes the tenancy following her mother's death
- Investment firm Urbangestión buys the apartment for 240,000 euros and raises the rent
- Supreme Court rules in favor of the real estate investment company
- Police execute the eviction on the fourth judicial attempt
Abascal's lawyer, Beatriz Duro, criticised the lack of accountability across public authorities during the proceedings.
Here, they keep passing the ball, nobody takes responsibility and everyone says it is someone else's.
Political clash and protests
The images of the eviction prompted demonstrations on Wednesday night across Madrid, Barcelona, and several other Spanish cities. Protesters gathered in city centres to express solidarity and demand tighter regulations against speculative real estate acquisitions. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the situation during meetings alongside the UN General Assembly in New York, placing blame on the regional government of Madrid led by the conservative People's Party.
It is a social tragedy that we cannot accept.
Sánchez called on lawmakers to pass an emergency decree-law on housing that the national executive plans to present. Opposition politicians from the People's Party responded by attributing escalating housing costs to eight years of socialist national governance.
Structural housing shortage
The Madrid eviction occurred amid persistent pressure on Spanish housing affordability. According to real estate portal Idealista and official records, average rental and purchase prices per square metre across Spain have increased by approximately 50% over the past decade. Rental prices have climbed by nearly 40% nationwide since 2020. Consumer organization OCU reported that locating rental accommodation in Madrid or Barcelona for under 700 euros per month is now extremely difficult. In addition, OECD data shows that publicly owned housing accounts for only 1.2% of Spain's total housing stock, compared to higher shares in European peers such as France, Britain, and the Netherlands.
