An 87-year-old woman was removed from her Madrid home on a stretcher after riot police forced their way through hundreds of protesters who had spent the night blocking the entrance to her apartment building.
Mari Carmen Abascal had lived in the flat on Calle Sainz de Baranda, in the city’s central Retiro district, since 1956. Her removal follows a long dispute with an investment firm that bought the property and raised her rent beyond what her pension could cover.
Demonstrators had gathered outside the building overnight, linking arms and singing to block court officers from executing the order. Shortly after mid-morning, police cleared the crowd by force. Paramedics subsequently carried Abascal—who has a recognized 50% disability—out of the building to an awaiting ambulance.
"I have lived here for 70 years. I don't want to leave," Abascal said before police arrived. "For money, people will do anything."
The original lease was signed by Abascal's father during Franco’s dictatorship, when women were barred from holding tenancy contracts independently. The contract later passed to her mother and then to Abascal.
The conflict began when the investment fund Urbagestión purchased the property and sought to raise the monthly rent from €500 to more than €2,600. Representatives from the Madrid Tenants' Union said an anonymous donor offered to pay the difference in rent every month, but the property owner rejected the offer and insisted on enforcing the eviction order.
The police action attracted criticism from housing campaign groups and figures in Spain’s cultural sector, including musicians Ana Belén and Rozalén, who attended the vigil. Activists said Abascal was taken to a nearby hospital following her removal, with no permanent alternative accommodation arranged.
Mari Carmen’s eviction highlights a systemic conflict in Spain’s housing sector, where residential property is increasingly treated as a speculative financial asset rather than a basic public right. When investment funds purchase entire apartment blocks to extract maximum yield, elderly residents on fixed pensions face immediate vulnerability and displacement.
Addressing this problem requires fundamental legislative action rather than temporary court stays or individual acts of charity. National and regional governments must expand public housing reserves—which currently represent under 3% of Spain’s housing supply, compared to the European Union average of 9%—and rigorously enforce rent caps in high-demand urban areas. Furthermore, contract rules surrounding historical tenancy transfers need overhaul to prevent predatory buyouts. Without policy reforms that prioritize long-term social stability over corporate profit, Spanish cities risk pricing out their working-class and aging populations, fracturing the social fabric of established neighborhoods.