Sunita Somvanshi
María del Carmen Abascal — known as Maricarmen — was carried out of the Madrid apartment where she had lived since 1956 on a stretcher on September 23, after a court-ordered eviction was executed. Within days, thousands of people took to the streets across Madrid and Barcelona.
Maricarmen, 87, was evicted from her Retiro district apartment following a long legal dispute over the succession of an old rental contract. EFE reported she was taken by ambulance to hospital after the eviction. RTVE reports she had lived there for approximately 70 years and that the dispute involved the final succession terms of a legacy rent agreement. Madrid municipal records show the eviction risk was being discussed by the Retiro district government as early as July 2026 — months before the September 23 execution date.
The eviction has put Spain’s housing policies back under public scrutiny. Spain’s national Housing Law contains provisions to protect economically vulnerable residents from eviction, but housing advocates argue those protections were not effective in Maricarmen’s case.
The Housing Numbers Behind the Protests
Related Karmactive coverage: previous Karmactive coverage and related Karmactive background.
Spain’s public housing stock accounts for approximately 1.2 percent of total national housing supply, according to OECD data — well below the European Union average of around 9 percent, and far behind France at roughly 14 percent or the Netherlands at approximately 34 percent. That shortage concentrates financial pressure on private renters: Madrid rental prices have risen by around 50 percent over the past decade.
The building where Maricarmen lived was purchased by a private investment entity. PAH, the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages and Evictions, argues that corporate landlords operating in Madrid can bypass rent stabilization rules that apply to individual landlords.
The conversion of inner-city apartments into short-term tourist rentals has been linked to displacement pressure on long-term residents in central Madrid neighborhoods with high tourism demand. For context on European housing policy and how urban tourism affects rental markets, see the linked explainers.
Housing advocates have raised questions about whether Spain’s national Housing Law protections are being consistently applied in individual cases.
Housing advocacy groups are calling for legislative action ahead of upcoming elections. As of September 25, the property owner Urbagestión had proposed that Maricarmen return through Madrid’s Reviva housing program; the city rejected that proposal as unviable and offered mediation. Her final accommodation remained unresolved as of that date.
Primary source links: congreso.es, congreso.es.
