An 87-year-old woman has been evicted from the Madrid home where she had lived for 71 years, prompting protests in cities across Spain and renewed debate over housing protections for vulnerable tenants.

Maricarmen Abascal was removed from her home in the Retiro district of Madrid on Wednesday, September 23, after the fourth attempt to carry out the eviction.

She left the building on a stretcher before being taken by Samur emergency medical services to hospital.

Eviction carried out after three previous attempts

The eviction took place at the woman's home on Calle Alcalde Sáinz de Baranda.

Hundreds of people, including neighbours and members of tenant organisations, had gathered around the building in an attempt to prevent the eviction.

Some supporters had camped outside overnight.

Police established a perimeter around the building while the judicial commission carried out the eviction.

The operation was completed during the morning, after three earlier attempts to remove Abascal had been postponed.

She had lived in the home since 1956

Abascal first entered the property in 1956, when her father signed an old-style long-term rental contract.

After his death, the tenancy passed to her mother and subsequently to Abascal.

She remained in the property for decades, continuing to pay a relatively low rent compared with current market prices.

The dispute over her right to remain in the home eventually developed into a lengthy legal battle.

The legal dispute over the tenancy

The case centred on the succession of the original rental contract.

The contract was first transferred from Abascal's father to her mother and later to Abascal herself.

The courts ultimately found that the second transfer of the tenancy did not provide her with a permanent right to remain under the old rental conditions.

The Supreme Court ruled in March 2026 in favour of the property owner's interpretation of the relevant rules.

The legal framework allows a further exception in certain circumstances where the beneficiary has a recognised disability above 65%.

Abascal has a recognised disability of 50%, according to reporting on the case, meaning she did not meet that particular threshold.

Rent rose from around €500

The financial dispute was another central element of the case.

Abascal had been paying approximately €500 a month under the existing arrangement.

After the property changed hands, the owner sought to end the old rental arrangement and offered a new tenancy at a substantially higher rent.

The initial amount sought was €2,650 per month.

Later negotiations reportedly brought the proposed rent down to around €1,650, but that remained above Abascal's reported monthly pension.

The different figures matter because the €2,650 amount was the initial demand, while approximately €1,650 was the later figure discussed in negotiations.

The property changed hands

The building had previously been owned by a family before being sold to an investment company.

Renta Corporación acquired the building in 2018 and later offered Abascal the possibility of buying her apartment.

She could not afford the purchase.

The property subsequently changed hands again and was acquired by Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión S.L., which became the owner at the centre of the later legal dispute.

Urbagestión describes itself as a property investment and management company and has rejected descriptions of it as a so-called “vulture fund.”

Offers to find a solution were not accepted

In the days before the eviction, several possible alternatives were discussed.

The Ministry of Housing attempted to mediate with the property owner and explored the possibility of acquiring the apartment.

A writer who chose to remain anonymous also offered to cover the difference between Abascal's existing rent and the amount being sought by the owner.

Those efforts did not prevent the eviction.

The property did not accept the proposed arrangements that had been put forward, according to reporting on the case.

A residence was also offered

The Madrid city government offered Abascal an emergency place in a residential care facility.

She declined that option and said she preferred to remain in her home.

Following the eviction, she was expected to stay temporarily with relatives.

Supporters gathered outside

The case had attracted growing support in the days before the eviction.

Members of the Sindicato de Inquilinas and local residents organised vigils and demonstrations outside the building.

Artists and other public figures also joined the campaign supporting Abascal's efforts to remain in her home.

On the night before the eviction, around 500 people were reported to have gathered outside the property.

The eviction became a national protest

The eviction triggered demonstrations in around a dozen Spanish cities on September 23.

Protests were reported in Madrid, Barcelona, Cádiz, Oviedo, Valencia, Palma, Málaga, Sevilla, Ávila and other cities.

In Madrid, approximately 10,000 people attended a demonstration, according to figures from the Government Delegation, calling for a publicly owned apartment purchased by the regional government to be made available to Abascal.

The demonstrations were organised by tenant groups and focused on the wider issue of housing affordability and protection against eviction.

Tensions during the Madrid operation

The eviction was accompanied by tensions between supporters and police.

Officers moved to clear access to the building while the judicial commission carried out the order.

Later in the day, demonstrators gathered again elsewhere in Madrid, with another concentration taking place near an apartment purchased by the Community of Madrid in the Chamberí district.

Reports from the demonstration included complaints from protesters about police conduct.

The Government Delegation in Madrid said the police deployment was operating under the authority of the judicial commission responsible for carrying out the eviction.

The apartment bought by Madrid's regional government

Part of the protest focused on an apartment in the Chamberí district acquired by the Community of Madrid through the public company Planifica Madrid.

Protesters called for that property to be made available to Abascal.

The demonstration was separate from the apartment from which she had been evicted and was used as a focal point for the wider housing protest.

Government response

The eviction also generated political reactions.

The Ministry of Housing said it had tried to find a negotiated solution and had explored the possibility of acquiring the apartment.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez subsequently described the eviction as a “social tragedy” and announced that the government would send a new housing decree to Parliament urgently, without specifying a date at that point.

Government ministers also called for renewed measures relating to vulnerable tenants.

These statements represent the government's political response to the case and do not change the judicial decision that authorised the eviction.

Different political responses

The case also produced disagreements within Spain's governing political parties.

Members of Sumar called for the government to move more quickly with new housing legislation, arguing that a previous housing decree could have provided additional protection.

The Spanish Congress had previously rejected the government's proposed extension of an eviction moratorium for vulnerable households.

Those arguments form part of the political debate surrounding the case rather than the legal basis on which the eviction itself was carried out.

Why the case became a national symbol

Abascal's situation attracted attention because several factors came together.

She had lived in the same property for more than seven decades, was 87 years old and had a recognised disability.

Her tenancy originated with a rental agreement signed in the 1950s, and the dispute over its succession lasted for years.

The eventual court ruling allowed the owner to recover possession, while the financial terms discussed during negotiations were beyond what Abascal was able to afford from her pension.

The role of the courts

It is important to separate the legal ruling from the political debate that followed.

The eviction was carried out pursuant to a judicial process that had continued through several stages.

Abascal initially obtained favourable rulings, but the later proceedings ultimately resulted in the Supreme Court supporting the property owner's position.

That decision paved the way for the eviction that was carried out in September.

What happens to Maricarmen now?

After leaving the apartment, Abascal was taken to hospital and was expected to stay temporarily with relatives.

Her eviction means she can no longer return to the home in Retiro where she had lived since 1956.

The case, however, has not ended politically.

Tenant organisations continue to use it to campaign for stronger protections for vulnerable people facing eviction, while the government has said it intends to bring forward new housing legislation.

A wider debate over long-term rentals

The case has also highlighted the particular complexity of Spain's old “renta antigua” rental contracts.

Many of these agreements originated under a very different housing and legal system.

When properties change ownership and contracts are inherited across generations, disputes can arise over who has the right to continue occupying a home and under what conditions.

Abascal's case reached the Supreme Court after the courts considered whether the succession from her father to her mother and subsequently to her was legally valid under the rules applicable to the original contract.

The figures at a glance

Maricarmen Abascal: 87 years old.

Time in the apartment: approximately 71 years, since 1956.

Location: Retiro, Madrid.

Number of eviction attempts: four.

Previous rent: approximately €500 per month.

Initial new rent sought: €2,650 per month.

Later amount discussed: approximately €1,650 per month.

Recognised disability: 50%.

Madrid protest: approximately 10,000 people, according to the Government Delegation.

Cities with protests: around a dozen across Spain.

A case that continues to influence the housing debate

Maricarmen Abascal's eviction has become one of the most visible recent housing cases in Spain.

The immediate legal dispute has now reached its conclusion, with the judicial eviction carried out on September 23.

The wider questions raised by the case remain open: how long-term tenants should be protected, how succession rules should apply to decades-old rental contracts, how vulnerable residents can be supported and what role public authorities should play when a court-ordered eviction is imminent.

For now, Maricarmen has left the home where she spent most of her life, while the case continues to feature prominently in Spain's housing debate.