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Spain eviction of 87-year-old spotlights housing crisis ahead of election
The eviction followed a monthly rent increase of 275% that the pensioner could not afford, prompting protests in Madrid, Barcelona and elsewhere.
A reported eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid home has put Spain’s long-running housing crisis back in the spotlight, as debate builds ahead of next year’s election. According to SCMP Economy, the pensioner, Maricarmen Abascal, had lived in the central Madrid apartment for about 70 years before she was removed on Wednesday, after an inability to pay a sharply higher rent.
SCMP Economy reports that Abascal could not afford a 275% increase to the monthly rent imposed by the real estate firm that owned her flat. The outlet described the event as a traumatic incident broadcast live on television, underscoring how unaffordable housing costs have become a central political flashpoint.
The story also notes that thousands of people protested on Wednesday night in Madrid, Barcelona and other locations, with demonstrators reacting to the eviction and denouncing the broader rental and buying market as out of reach for renters and buyers across ages.