Thousands of people marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her lifelong home, calling for stronger protection for tenants.
The eviction of Maricarmen Abascal earlier this week has renewed attention on Spain’s housing crisis. Police reportedly broke down the door of her Madrid apartment on Wednesday and carried her out on a stretcher.
During Saturday’s demonstration in central Madrid, protesters carried banners and chanted slogans demanding measures to control rising housing costs and make evictions more difficult.
One banner read: “You could be the next Maricarmen.”
Abascal, who has become a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, urged people to join the campaign in a video message released shortly before the protest.
“I want what has happened to me to serve so that it does not happen to other people,” she said from hospital, where she has been receiving treatment for exhaustion following her eviction.
She also called for changes to the laws that allowed her to be evicted.
According to Spain’s main tenants’ union, Abascal had lived in the apartment for 70 years before a real estate company acquired the property and increased the rent by 275 per cent to €2,650 ($3,000).
The issue has also increased pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government to address housing costs. His government is reportedly preparing a package of measures, known as the “Maricarmen decree,” which could include automatic renewal of rental contracts and additional restrictions on evictions.
However, it remains uncertain whether the measures will pass in parliament because Sánchez’s government does not have a majority.
A similar housing bill was rejected earlier this year, but Abascal’s case has renewed calls for political parties to take action.
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