Madrid protesters are rallying over Maricarmen's eviction after more than seven decades in one home. Organisers want new tenant safeguards before the Government decides on a housing decree Tuesday.
At 87, Maricarmen Abascal left the rented home where she had lived for more than 70 years on 23 September 2026. Reuters reported that the eviction went ahead despite protests outside the building. The Sindicato de Inquilinas is now demanding action from the central government and the authorities in Madrid.
Organisers say the next test comes Tuesday. That is when the Government may decide whether to approve a new housing decree.
Under the slogan Ni una Maricarmen más, the demonstration began at 18:30 in Puerta del Sol, outside the headquarters of the Comunidad de Madrid.
По данным Tercera Información, выселение 23 сентября стало уже четвёртой попыткой, которую профсоюз считал окончательной. Ночью у дома дежурили сотни людей, пытаясь предотвратить выселение.
The march is due to continue towards Cibeles and the Ayuntamiento de Madrid. It will then pass along Carrera de San Jerónimo before reaching the Congreso de los Diputados. The route puts the regional government, city authorities and national parliament inside the organisers' political message.
The demand is specific.
The Sindicato de Inquilinas wants landlords to show a justified reason when they refuse to renew a tenancy. If they cannot, the proposed decree should require them to compensate the tenant, according to the group. Organisers also want indefinite contracts and a freeze on rental prices. They describe those measures as a first step towards reversing the housing crisis.
По данным делегации центрального правительства в Мадриде, стихийная акция в поддержку Марикармен собрала около 10 000 человек. По версии профсоюза арендаторов, после покупки квартиры арендная плата выросла на 275% — до 2 650 евро в месяц.
An earlier housing report described possible effects beyond evictions. Those effects could include students and landlords.
Reuters and Euronews reported that Maricarmen was carried out on a stretcher. She was later taken away in an ambulance with social-services staff. Protesters chanted in her support.
The case quickly moved beyond one tenancy. It became a national symbol of Spain's housing crisis.
Alicia del Río, spokesperson for the Sindicato de Inquilinas, spoke at the start of the protest. She said the coalition Government would lose its stated progressive purpose if the decree failed to pass Tuesday. Del Río said the organisation had presented its text to all parliamentary forces. She also warned that the anger over Maricarmen's case would not stop.
The union calls the eviction a point of no return. It says it will not accept another case like it. Its criticism has two targets.
The union blames the Government of Isabel Díz Ayuso for promoting what it calls a climate of speculation in Madrid. It also accuses the central government of inaction while using Maricarmen's case in its political dispute with the PP.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the situation a tragedy. He condemned the eviction as unacceptable, according to AFP. El País reported that protesters were also directing their anger at Madrid's authorities. They pointed to the regional government's purchase of an expensive penthouse.
Organisers did not know whether progressive political figures would attend. Del Río said the call was directed at society as a whole. She suggested that public figures who support the right to housing could join the march.
The protest began with one tenancy. Organisers have turned it into a direct test of the Government's housing policy.
On 23 September, the announced "housing decree" had not yet been registered as a royal decree-law. It was not under parliamentary consideration, according to Demócrata. The measure therefore remained possible, not approved. Its final content was also unsettled in the information available.
That distinction matters. The protections demanded by the Sindicato de Inquilinas will affect tenants only if they are included and adopted.
The political pressure is already concrete. The march ties Maricarmen's eviction to a Tuesday decision and assigns responsibility across three levels of government. On the facts presented, the Government now faces a choice between its promised housing response and the demands raised in Madrid's streets.
