Madrid police evict 87-year-old tenant after landlord demands 275% rent hike
Spanish police cleared 400 demonstrators from a Retiro apartment block on 23 September to remove Maricarmen Abascal, whose monthly rent was raised from 500 to 2,650 euros.
Police execute eviction after four attempts
Riot police in Madrid removed 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her apartment on Calle Alcalde Sainz de Baranda on 23 September, ending her seven-decade residency in the Retiro district. Officers dismantled a protest camp of approximately 400 activists who gathered to block the building entrance, executing the eviction order on their fourth attempt. Medical personnel transported Abascal, who has reduced mobility, on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance while demonstrators chanted outside the security cordon.
I have lived here for 71 years and I do not want to leave.
Legal dispute and 275% rent increase
Abascal occupied the flat under an agreement signed by her father in 1956, keeping her monthly rent capped at approximately 500 euros for decades. In 2018, the investment firm Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión SL acquired the single residential unit for 247,000 euros and initiated legal proceedings to alter the tenancy terms. Following a ruling by Spain's Supreme Court in favor of the company, the landlord raised the monthly rent by 275% to 2,650 euros.
- Original rent
- 500 EUR
- Negotiated offer
- 1650 EUR
- Demanded rent
- 2650 EUR
During subsequent discussions, Madrid Tenants Union attorney Beatriz Duro inquired what amount the landlord would accept to allow Abascal to stay, prompting an offer of 1,650 euros per month. With a monthly pension between 1,300 and 1,350 euros, Abascal could not meet the revised demand. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had previously issued precautionary measures requesting a suspension of the eviction, which local judicial authorities did not enforce.
There is no way to understand how prioritizing the profitability of a real estate investment can be justified over the right to housing of an 87-year-old woman who receives a pension of 1,300 euros and has lived in that home for 70 years.
Rehousing proposal rejected by municipal authority
Following the eviction, Urbagestión submitted a proposal to Madrid's Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS) to place the property into the municipal ReViVa program, which seeks to convert empty apartments into affordable rentals. The municipal agency rejected the submission, stating that the proposal did not meet the legal requirements of the program guidelines. The company stated that it does not own the entire residential building and maintained that the unit is not currently listed for sale.
- Father signs original long-term tenancy contract
- Urbagestión purchases the apartment for 247,000 euros
- Police execute eviction order following three blocked attempts
- Madrid housing authority rejects landlord proposal for ReViVa program
- Tenants union holds demonstration starting at Puerta del Sol
Political reactions and broader market pressures
Speaking in New York during the UN General Assembly, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed the case directly and criticized the response of municipal authorities.
This is a social tragedy that we cannot accept.
The incident prompted immediate street mobilizations, drawing nearly 10,000 protesters across Madrid on Wednesday evening, with a subsequent demonstration planned for Saturday from Puerta del Sol. Official figures from the General Council of the Judiciary record more than 25,000 evictions across Spain in 2025. Data from real estate portal Idealista showed average national rental prices reaching 15.1 euros per square meter in August. In Portugal, the Lisbon Tenants Association cited the Madrid case while warning that a parliamentary vote scheduled for 30 September on the New Urban Lease Regime (NRAU) could ease eviction procedures in Portuguese cities.
