The eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen after seventy years in her Madrid home has set off a fierce political storm. Esperanza Aguirre says the case is being used to distract from Spain’s migration crisis and the future of Ceuta and Melilla.
Maricarmen, 87, lost her Madrid apartment after more than seventy years. Her eviction set off a wave of outrage. But Esperanza Aguirre, former president of the Community of Madrid, says the real problem is somewhere else. She is not holding back.
“Esto de Maricarmen es una cortina de humo, ya se lo dije, y el 15-M, pues otra cortina de humo,” Aguirre told El Confidencial. She claims the government is using Maricarmen’s story to distract the public. For Aguirre, the real threat is the crisis in Ceuta and Melilla. She warns that Spain’s sovereignty is at risk.
According to Reuters and other major outlets, Maricarmen was evicted on September 23, 2026, after decades in her Retiro district apartment, and was carried out on a stretcher before being taken to the hospital.
Aguirre does not mince words. She accuses the government of being “decided to let the Moroccans keep Ceuta and Melilla.” She says if Spain loses these territories, it sets a dangerous precedent. “Once we have lost sovereignty in Ceuta and Melilla, how are we going to deny it to Catalonia or the Basque Country?” Aguirre asks. For her, this is about Spain’s future.
The government is working on a new housing decree. The Council of Ministers will discuss it on September 29. Aguirre is not convinced. She points out that Spain sees 25,000 evictions every year. Most happen in Catalonia. “Recently, in Catalonia, there was a woman who was evicted and committed suicide. Nobody talks about that. The only thing that matters is Maricarmen,” she says. Aguirre believes the outrage is selective. She calls it media orchestration.
Maricarmen’s story has become a symbol. Aguirre says it is a manufactured one. She recalls that when Maricarmen was asked who was to blame, she named Pedro Sánchez, then Ayuso and Almeida. Aguirre sees this as proof that the story is being shaped for politics, not for real solutions on housing or migration.
Euronews reports that after the building was acquired by an investment fund, Maricarmen's rent was proposed to increase from around 500 euros to as much as 2,650 euros per month, later reduced to 1,650 euros. This dramatic hike is cited by tenant unions as a key reason her case became emblematic of Spain's broader housing crisis.
Aguirre also brings up Pedro Sánchez’s 2015 promise. He said he would end evictions if he came to power. Aguirre says that promise is still unfulfilled. She points to the lack of new housing construction. Many Spaniards are worried. Aguirre says the government is not doing enough.
This fight over Maricarmen’s eviction is not happening in isolation. Spain’s border regions are under pressure. Recent reporting on political fallout in Ceuta shows how migration and sovereignty are now at the center of debate. Both sides accuse each other of misdirection.
Aguirre’s intervention is a warning. She says headline stories can be political smoke screens. The government’s new housing decree might bring short-term relief. But the bigger questions about Spain’s borders, unity, and mass evictions are still open. Maricarmen’s fate is both a personal tragedy and a political weapon. It shows Spain’s anxieties—and its priorities.
