Sunita SomvanshiSpain has banned evictions for vulnerable renters in an emergency decree announced this week, hours after Maricarmen — an 87-year-old woman carried out of her Madrid flat on a stretcher — accepted an offer to return home.
The eviction on September 23 triggered protests across Madrid and Barcelona within days. Thousands gathered at Puerta del Sol as video footage of Maricarmen’s removal went viral. Her apartment in the Retiro district had been her home since 1956 — approximately 70 years — following a legal dispute over the succession of an old rental contract. She was taken by ambulance to hospital after the court-ordered eviction, as reported by EFE and confirmed by RTVE.
The government’s emergency measures include a temporary ban on evictions for vulnerable renters, rent caps on existing contracts upon renewal, and a prohibition on vulture funds acquiring distressed residential properties. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez framed the reforms as a necessary response to a housing system that has failed working families.
“This is not just about one woman. This is about a system that treats housing as a commodity rather than a right,” Maricarmen’s lawyer said.
The building where Maricarmen lived was purchased by Urbagestión, a private investment entity. The PAH (Platform for People Affected by Mortgages and Evictions) argues corporate landlords in Madrid can bypass rent stabilization rules that apply to individual landlords — a structural issue explored in our previous coverage of the Madrid eviction case.
Spain’s public housing stock accounts for approximately 1.2 percent of total national supply, according to OECD data — well below the European Union average of around 9 percent. Madrid rental prices have risen by around 50 percent over the past decade. The conversion of inner-city apartments into short-term tourist rentals has been linked to displacement pressure on long-term residents in central Madrid neighbourhoods, a pattern seen in London’s housing delivery crisis and Australia’s construction shortfall.
For Spain’s two million renters, the eviction ban offers immediate protection. But housing advocates warn that temporary measures without structural reform will not close the gap. Spain needs significant new affordable housing construction annually — a target no eviction ban alone can meet, unlike the UK’s £442m rough sleeper commitment.
Maricarmen’s return through Madrid’s Reviva housing program was initially rejected as unviable; the city offered mediation instead. As of September 25, her final accommodation remained unresolved.
The government has pledged a comprehensive housing law by mid-2027, promising permanent protections for vulnerable renters. Activists remain sceptical, noting that previous housing reforms have stalled in parliament.
The eviction that started it all happened in a working-class neighbourhood on Madrid’s outskirts. Maricarmen had lived in the same flat for 70 years. When her landlord sold the building to a private investment entity, the new owners issued an eviction notice. She had nowhere else to go.
Her story became the spark. Spain changed its laws because of it. Whether those laws hold — and whether other European nations follow — remains to be seen.
