Madrid Housing Protest Camp Grows After Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman

A protest camp has grown in central Madrid after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from the apartment where she had lived for seven decades triggered one of the largest recent demonstrations over Spain’s housing crisis.

Dozens of tents were set up at Puerta del Sol following a mass rally on Saturday, with the camp growing to around 100–150 tents overnight. Protesters are demanding stronger tenant protections, measures to curb rents and restrictions on evictions without alternative accommodation.

An eviction becomes a national symbol

The protests were triggered by the case of Maricarmen Abascal, who was removed from her Madrid home on Wednesday after police broke down the door. Images of the 87-year-old being carried from the apartment on a stretcher after the eviction quickly became a symbol of the wider housing crisis.

Abascal had lived in the apartment for 70 years. The tenants’ union said the property had been acquired by a real estate company, which subsequently increased the rent by 275% to €2,650 a month. Abascal later appeared in a video from hospital, where she was being treated for exhaustion, urging people to use her case to push for changes to Spain’s housing laws.

Her case has brought together concerns that normally affect different groups: older tenants facing displacement, younger people unable to establish independent households and workers struggling to remain in Spain’s largest cities.

At Saturday’s demonstration, protesters marched through central Madrid rattling keys and blowing whistles. Government authorities estimated the turnout at around 25,000 people, while the Madrid Tenants’ Union claimed more than 300,000 attended, illustrating the scale of the mobilisation but also the significant discrepancy between official and organiser estimates.

Housing pressure is becoming a political issue

The mobilisation comes less than a year before Spain’s next general election, scheduled for 2027. Housing has already become a persistent source of political pressure for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government, with protests taking place in different parts of the country.

The government is now expected to consider a package informally known as the “Maricarmen decree”. The proposed measures would include automatic renewal of rental contracts and additional restrictions on evictions. However, Sánchez’s government does not have a parliamentary majority, meaning that turning the proposals into law could prove difficult. A similar measure was defeated earlier this year.

The Madrid camp therefore represents more than a protest over one eviction. It has become a test of whether the government can translate growing public pressure over housing into legislation while balancing the interests of tenants, property owners and the wider real-estate market.

A structural shortage of housing

The dispute is taking place against a substantial gap between housing supply and demand. The Bank of Spain estimates that the country is short of around 700,000 homes based on the difference between demand and new construction. Spain also has a relatively small stock of public housing, while demand in major cities has been reinforced by tourism and population growth.

The result is a housing problem that increasingly cuts across generations. Older residents face the possibility of being priced out of long-term homes, while younger workers can struggle to leave their parents’ households or find accommodation close to employment centres.