María del Carmen Abascal moved into the Madrid apartment with her family at 17 years old in 1956
Credit: Francesco Militello Mirto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
NEED TO KNOW
- María del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from her Madrid apartment due to unaffordable rent increases on Wednesday, Sept. 23
- Her fight against the eviction lasted eight years, and she became a prominent figure as people in Spain face an ongoing affordable housing crisis
- After she was evicted and removed from the building via stretcher, 10,000 protesters and supporters demonstrated against the eviction
An 87-year-old woman was evicted from her home of 71 years in Madrid, prompting protesters to flood the streets.
María del Carmen “Maricarmen” Abascal had lived in her apartment in the city’s Retiro neighborhood since 1956 before authorities removed her from the home on Wednesday, Sept. 23, Reuters reported.
“I’ve lived here for 71 years, and I don’t want to leave,” she told reporters on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
An investment fund, Urbagestion, acquired the apartment building and increased her rent, according to Spanish outlet El País. Her rent was initially €500 ($572), then increased to €2,650 ($3,014), but was later lowered to €1,650 ($1,877). However, that was not affordable for Abascal, because her monthly pension is €1,350 ($1,535).
Abascal and her family moved to the apartment in 1956, when she was 17. At the time, her father signed an old-style regulated tenancy agreement. After his death, he passed the home to his wife. She then passed it to Abascal after her death in 2005, according to Euronews.
However, after Urbagestion acquired the property and took over its management, Abascal began renting from the private landlord in 2018, according to El País.
In the years that followed, Urbagestion argued that Abascal’s retention of the apartment was invalid and that the contract’s timing was no longer applicable. As a result, her case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled against her in March 2026. The decision overturned a lower court’s January 2022 ruling in Abascal’s favor, according to local outlet El Confidencial.
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Over the past eight years—and amid Spain’s rising affordable housing crisis—she has continued to battle to stay in the unit. She has become a recognizable face for the ongoing crisis, which has resulted in an average of three evictions a day in the Madrid region, according to El País.
Abascal’s attorney, Beatriz Duro, said a court filing to suspend the eviction was pending ahead of Wednesday’s eviction, per Reuters. While there were humanitarian appeals and evidence that public authorities were seeking alternative accommodation, per the outlet, Duro said Urbagestion’s representatives refused to suspend the eviction.
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There were several postponements, with the first attempt in October 2025 and the other two in June, Euronews reported. That same month, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called on the Spanish government to stop the eviction and ensure she would have adequate housing prepared.
Months later, and after several postponements, the eviction went ahead on the fourth attempt.
Credit: Francesco Militello Mirto/NurPhoto via Getty
On Wednesday, Abascal was notified to leave and given 30 minutes to pack her essential belongings. In response, several protesters were forcibly removed by the authorities from the building doorway, including being lifted by their arms and legs, per Reuters.
Abascal was removed from the building on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance before she was driven away from the neighborhood. As the ambulance drove, supporters chanted “Maricarmen, you’re not alone!” and “Murderers!” On the night of the eviction, nearly 10,000 people appeared in the neighborhood to protest, chanting “Shame on you.”
The Madrid City Council and Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida claimed the council and municipal services offered Abascal alternatives before the eviction, per Euronews. She allegedly rejected each offer, including placement in a residential facility, the City Hall housing department said.
Abascal rejected the residential facility once more after her eviction and said she would move in with relatives.
PEOPLE reached out to Urbagestion for comment.
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