Spain protests: Evicted 87-year-old woman to return to Madrid home

What the report says

Large protests in Spain over housing and eviction rules have helped secure a reversal for an 87-year-old Madrid tenant, according to Al Jazeera. The woman, Maria del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, is expected to return to her home after the real estate firm agreed to restore her previous rent, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera reported that the dispute began last week after an international investment fund bought the building and raised her monthly rent by more than 200 percent, to about $1,880, in what critics said was an effort to push out a long-term tenant and convert the property into tourist apartments. Under the new arrangement, her rent would be lowered to around $570 a month for eight years, a level described as taking up about 30 percent of her pension.

The case has become a symbol of Spain’s worsening housing crunch, with tenants’ groups organizing demonstrations and encampments in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and in other cities. Protesters have pressed the government to act against evictions and improve affordability. In response, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government has proposed measures for a parliamentary vote, including extending tenant protections through 2030, although the package still faces political resistance. Al Jazeera also noted that Spain’s central bank estimates the country is short of hundreds of thousands of homes.