An 87-year-old woman was forced out of her Madrid apartment after her rent shot up under a new landlord. Police carried out the eviction despite protests and last-minute offers to pay. The case shows how vulnerable tenants are in Spain’s rental market.
Police showed up on a quiet street in Madrid’s Retiro district and removed Mari Carmen Abascal, 87, from the apartment she had lived in for decades. The eviction happened just after 11:00 a.m. It ended a tense standoff that had dragged on for weeks, with repeated delays and growing protests. El Español reported the address as Alcalde Sainz de Baranda, 46. This was the fourth attempt to evict her. The first three were postponed because of her age and the pushback from neighbors and activists.
Authorities had already tried three times to evict Abascal. Each time, they stopped because of her vulnerability and the resistance from local groups and anti-eviction activists. On the fourth try, police cleared the entrance of demonstrators and carried out the court order. The Sindicato de Inquilinas and other supporters shouted for a solution, but police went ahead. RTVE and other Spanish outlets said hundreds of people gathered outside, hoping to stop the eviction.
Abascal had lived in the same apartment for approximately 70–71 years and has a 50% disability, which intensified the public response to her eviction.
The crisis started in 2018, when the investment fund Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión SL (also called Urbagesa) bought Abascal’s building. After that, her rent jumped from 500 euros to 1,650 euros a month. That’s a 275% increase, confirmed by several sources. Talks to delay the eviction went nowhere. El Español and Heraldo reported that the Sindicato de Inquilinas asked for a one-month extension, but the new owner refused. A writer even offered to pay Abascal’s rent, but Urbagestión turned down every offer and refused to compromise or wait.
Politicians and lawyers got involved. Alejandra Jacinto, a lawyer and former Unidas Podemos deputy in the Madrid Assembly, slammed the police action and said the property fund blocked all attempts at a deal. Podemos MEP Irene Montero was warned by police for “inciting the crowd” after she tried to speak with the officer in charge. Police told her she was “just another citizen” and had to follow the same rules as everyone else. Spain’s Ministry of Housing called on Madrid’s mayor and the regional president to step in and stop the eviction, criticizing the property owner for rejecting every solution put forward.
For Abascal, the eviction ended a lifetime in the same home. She said she was sad to leave and unsure what would happen next, but thanked neighbors and activists for standing by her. The scene outside her building was a snapshot of Spain’s housing crisis, where vulnerable people face rising rents and tough landlords. In another recent case, authorities in Ibiza cleared a wetland camp, forcing dozens to leave with almost no warning, as reported earlier.
The legal dispute over Abascal’s tenancy reached the Supreme Court of Spain, which in March ruled in favor of the property owner regarding the validity of the second subrogation of the rental contract. This decision effectively ended Abascal’s legal avenues to remain in the apartment.
This case shows how much power big investment funds have over tenants, especially the elderly. When a landlord can triple the rent overnight and refuse every offer to help, legal protections for vulnerable people look thin. The forced eviction of Mari Carmen Abascal is a clear sign that in Spain’s overheated rental market, even decades in the same home offer little safety when profit comes first.
