Key facts
- Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old, will return to her Madrid home of over seven decades.
- An agreement was reached with the investment fund that bought her apartment.
- Abascal will pay a rent similar to her previous one under a new eight-year contract.
- Protests have entered their third day outside the Madrid regional government's headquarters.
- Spain faces a deficit of 750,000 homes, a figure that could rise to over 1 million by 2028.
- Rents have doubled over the past decade, outpacing salaries.
Protests demanding stronger tenant protections in Spain have entered their third day, sparked by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid home of over seven decades. Abascal will now be able to return to her home after reaching an agreement with the investment fund that purchased her apartment.
Under the new eight-year contract, Abascal will pay a rent similar to her previous rate. Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, described the agreement as unprecedented, reversing an already concluded eviction. Abascal, who was hospitalized following her eviction, plans to sign the deal once she feels better.
The protests, which began last week after police removed Abascal on a stretcher, have seen hundreds of tents fill Madrid's Puerta del Sol square. On Saturday, an estimated 30,000 people marched through the city, carrying banners with slogans like "Speculators go home" and "Housing is for living."
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that the government is working to approve a housing decree by Tuesday to provide immediate relief for tenants. The Socialist-led central government has condemned the centre-right regional administration for not preventing the eviction.
Spain faces a significant housing shortage, with a deficit of 750,000 homes, projected to rise to over 1 million by 2028. Annual home construction is only about 120,000 units, a fraction of the rate before the 2008 financial crisis. Rents have doubled over the past decade, far outpacing salary growth, with a growing share of evictions now related to rent disputes rather than mortgage defaults.