Evicted Spanish pensioner can move back home, lawyer says
Evicted Spanish pensioner can move back home, lawyer says
Victoria Bourne - BBC News Tue, September 29, 2026 at 10:57 AM UTC
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The eviction of Maricarmen Abascal prompted large-scale protests across Spain
An evicted elderly disabled woman, who has become symbolic of Spain's housing crisis, will be able to return to her home in Madrid, according to her lawyer.
Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was forcibly removed on a stretcher from her apartment of more than 70 years on 23 September. She was admitted to hospital after the eviction.
Her eviction has led to widespread anger across Spain, which led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's cabinet to agree on housing relief measures on Tuesday.
Abascal's lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told a press conference there had been "goodwill from both parties" and that she would pay a similar amount of rent under a new contract, averting a significant price hike.
Duro had met the investment company Urbagestión, which owns the apartment, for several hours on Monday, and the agreement they reached still has to be approved by Maricarmen Abascal, as she was unable to take part in the meeting.
She added that Abascal, who is being treated for exhaustion, would sign the deal when she felt better.
Up to 1,000 protesters welcomed the agreement at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where hundreds of tents have been set up. However, the city's Tenants' Unionhad called on the government to approve deeper housing reforms "so that there are no more Maricarmens".
The details of the government's new housing agreement are expected to be released on Tuesday. It will need to be approved by parliament.
The tent protest has been criticised by Madrid regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who has accused the government of failing to respond in time to Spain's housing shortage and of now coming up with "sectarian" and "deeply ideological" proposals.
"I'm merely asking to be told at what age I can stop paying my landlords so I can stay in my place, and maybe I'll even join the next tenants' protest," she said.
Spain needed a million more homes to address demographic growth encouraged by the Sánchez government itself, she added.
Hundreds of tents have been set up in Madrid's city centre
Fifty-one-year-old Esmeralda Tejero was another tenant reportedly facing eviction on Tuesday. She was set to be evicted, along with her 11-year-old daughter, from their apartment in the north-eastern city of Zaragoza, Catalan newspaper el Periódico reported.
Tejero, who has lived in the flat for eight years, told the paper she had stopped paying rent because she could not afford it on top of her daily expenses. She said her rent was €320 (£274) per month, while her income was about €600.
"If I pay €320 a month, how do I feed my daughter?" she said.
In Maricarmen Abascal's case, her father first rented the property in 1956 and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a cap on the rent.
Urbagestión, which bought the property in 2018, increased the rent from €500 per month (£428; $572) to €2,650 (£2,280; $3,020).
The company later offered to reduce this to €1,650 however she was still unable to pay this with her monthly pension of €1,350.
Three previous attempts to evict her were blocked by the courts.
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Her case triggered nationwide protests and tens of thousands of people to march through the Spanish capital on Saturday to object to the eviction and to demand stronger protection for tenants in the face of a housing shortage and soaring rents.
Duro said the agreement, yet to be signed, was the "result of the social mobilisation".
Supporters called it a victory but promised to continue their fight to prevent similar evictions, and to press for more affordable housing.
Many of those campaigning remain dissatisfied.
Abascal's return means "absolutely nothing," according to Jacob Patiño, one of the protesters who has been camping out in Puerta del Sol.
"It's a sticking plaster, which can be removed at any time," he told the BBC. "Because, like Maricarmen, there are lots and lots of other people who are being evicted."
He said laws were needed that "directly prevent these things from happening, to make sure that people have a home, as a constitutional right."
"We need to make sure things improve overall, not just Maricarmen's situation," he said.
A spokesman for firefighters employed by Madrid City Hall taking part in the protest in Puerta del Sol said they are sometimes called out to help carry out evictions and said it affects their mental health.
"It makes us complicit," said Diego Blanco. "When we decide to become firefighters we have done so to save people and help them, not to throw people out in the street and leave them in a worse situation than they were in before."
Diego Blanco says firefighters like him are often called to help carry out evictions
The Bank of Spain estimates the country is short of 700,000 homes, based on the gap between demand and new construction.
House prices have risen by 12.2% in the past year, according to figures for the second quarter of 2026 from national statistics institute INE.
The shortage in rental housing means that costs rose by 8.5% in 2025, according to real estate firm Idealista, with Madrid alone seeing an increase of 9.7% in rents. It said Barcelona and Madrid were Spain's most expensive cities to rent a home, at €23.8 per square metre and €22.7 per square metre respectively.
Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party, which lacks a majority in Parliament, is hoping to agree a new decree with his political allies to appease public outrage.
A council of ministers was due to meet on Tuesday morning, with left-wing ministers calling for permanent protection for tenants.
Negotiations ahead of the meeting went on through the night and the left-wing Catalan party ERC is said to have called for a halt to all evictions involving vulnerable people while also demanding a hike on taxes for tourist accommodation.
In a speech on Monday evening, Sánchez promised that the government would act responsibly to tackle the "housing emergency suffered by so many people".
"Patriotism also means preventing an 87-year-old woman from ending up on the street after a lifetime in her home," he said.
Dramatic eviction of woman aged 87 highlights Spain's housing shortage
Source: “AOL Breaking”
