Adolfo and his daughter were evicted from their home in Puente de Vallecas on Tuesday, along with his four-year-old grandson, after several postponements and a last-minute extension. Despite ongoing negotiations and community mobilization, authorities made a fourth attempt to remove the family, who had sought a social rent agreement to stay in the property. Activists responded quickly: dozens of members of the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) staged a sit-in at a CaixaBank branch on Avenida de la Albufera as a heavy police presence gathered.
PAH Vallekas said the family had been negotiating with BuildingCenter, the property manager, since January, seeking a social rental contract. Platform representatives traveled to Barcelona in March to meet with mediators, and the company reportedly agreed in writing to review the case. The eviction went ahead while a legal appeal for suspension was still pending, leaving the family little time to collect their belongings. Judicial officials and police at the scene refused requests for extra days to remove personal items, citing the family's earlier resistance to leaving.
Social services offered only a temporary stay at the municipal shelter Las Caracolas. Activists say the accommodation is unsuitable for a family with a young child, particularly one with cognitive disabilities. The PAH argues that temporary accommodation cannot meet the needs of a school-aged child who requires stability and specific care. For now, the family is staying with a volunteer as negotiations for social rent continue. As of publication, CaixaBank had not responded to EL PAÍS's requests for comment.
The case has brought broader concerns about Madrid's housing sector into focus. The PAH says at least ten similar cases involving BuildingCenter remain unresolved, with families facing eviction after mortgage foreclosures or the expiration of subsidized rental contracts. The organization accuses CaixaBank of failing to honor commitments to negotiate social rents. It says the bank's partial state ownership, following its absorption of Bankia, which had previously been rescued with public funds, should bring greater social responsibility in its dealings with vulnerable families facing housing problems.
Housing insecurity and evictions remain contentious issues in Spain, particularly in urban districts like Vallecas, where vulnerable families face the risk of losing their homes. The lack of long-term solutions has fueled protests and demands for policy change. Madrid's situation echoes civil mobilization elsewhere, including the recent mobilization in Venezuela following natural disasters. In both cases, grassroots action has filled a gap where institutional responses were seen as insufficient.
Spain continues to struggle to provide affordable housing, and its social rental stock remains limited compared with that of other European countries. In recent years, the government has introduced measures to curb evictions and expand social housing, but implementation varies by region and often falls short of demand. The Vallecas eviction highlights the gap between policy intentions and daily life for many families, particularly those with children or special needs. Negotiations continue, but Adolfo's family's outcome remains uncertain, reflecting the wider struggle for housing security in Spain's major cities.
Madrid's housing pressures have also become a point of political dispute. In a separate debate about the municipal housing company EMVS, Más Madrid councillor Lucía Lois said the company was involved in 81 property launches in 2025, up from 27 in 2024. Judicial proceedings initiated by EMVS rose from 123 to 259. Lois urged the company to stop acting “like a vulture”; Madrid housing delegate Álvaro González disputed the criticism and cited more than 100 evictions during Manuela Carmena’s administration. The figures concern EMVS, not BuildingCenter.
Figures attributed to the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) put the number of judicially recorded property launches in the Community of Madrid at 2,267 in 2025. Of these, 1,931 were linked to rent arrears, while 252 involved mortgage foreclosures. That amounted to about 32 launches per 100,000 residents, compared with 83 per 100,000 in Catalonia. These are court-recorded proceedings, not a count of unique families or people, and they do not identify the share associated with any one property manager. The Objective reported the figures.
The CGPJ also introduced an indicator tracking requests to suspend launches on grounds of special vulnerability. Across Spain, 2,732 such requests were filed in the fourth quarter of 2025, and 2,559 were resolved. The council described the new data as orientative while the reporting system develops. Separately, Cáritas reported accompanying 44,475 people experiencing homelessness in 2025, 3.8% more than in 2024. It identified housing costs and evictions as factors contributing to homelessness, alongside unemployment and forced migration.
Housing insecurity and evictions remain contentious issues in Spain, particularly in urban districts like Vallecas, where vulnerable families are at risk. The absence of long-term solutions has fueled ongoing protests and calls for policy change. Madrid's situation echoes broader patterns of civil mobilization elsewhere, including the recent mobilization in Venezuela following natural disasters. In both cases, grassroots action has stepped in where institutional responses were viewed as insufficient.
Spain has long struggled to provide affordable housing, and its social rental stock remains limited compared with that of other European countries. The government has introduced measures in recent years to curb evictions and expand social housing, but implementation varies by region and often falls short of demand. The Vallecas eviction highlights the gap between policy intentions and the lived reality for many families, especially those with children or special needs. Negotiations continue, with Adolfo's family still facing an uncertain outcome that reflects the wider struggle for housing security in Spain's major cities.
