An 87-year-old woman has been evicted from the central Madrid apartment where she lived for seven decades, in a scene that has become a defining symbol of Spain's deepening housing crisis. Maricarmen Abascal, who uses a wheelchair and has limited mobility, was carried out of her home on a stretcher by social workers and taken by ambulance to hospital, where she was treated for stress and exhaustion. Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered outside the building overnight in an attempt to block the eviction, and police deployed tear gas to clear activists who had occupied the stairwell.

Maricarmen's connection to the apartment in the Retiro district — an affluent neighbourhood in the heart of Madrid — dates to 1956, when her father first signed the lease. After both her parents died, the tenancy passed to her under a protected rent arrangement that kept her monthly payment at €500. That situation changed after an investment firm, Urbagestión, purchased the property in 2018. The company argued that a legal technicality made the second transfer of the tenancy — to Maricarmen herself — invalid under Spanish law, allowing it to raise the rent. Although Urbagestión eventually reduced its demand from €2,650 to €1,650 per month, this still exceeded Maricarmen's monthly pension of €1,350. Three earlier eviction attempts were blocked by the courts, but a judge this time authorised the removal to proceed. A last-minute offer from an anonymous donor to cover most of the rent was reportedly rejected by the company. Maricarmen will stay temporarily with her nephew while local authorities search for a permanent solution.

The case has ignited political anger and drawn in public figures, with celebrities including actor Carlos Bardem and singer Ana Belén joining the overnight vigil. Spain's Housing Minister Teresa Rodríguez described the eviction as