HUNDREDS of protesters pitched tents in the heart of Madrid after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman sparked mass demonstrations over Spain’s housing crisis.
Around 25,000 people took to the capital’s streets on Saturday, according to government figures, though the Sindicato de Inquilinas – the tenants’ union behind the protest – claimed some 300,000 attended.
More than 150 tents then filled the historic Puerta del Sol square as protesters stayed overnight, turning the plaza into a makeshift protest camp.
Many have since refused to leave the square, with the protest dragging on as demonstrators demand stronger tenant protections and a ban on evictions when no alternative accommodation is available.
Alicia del Rio, a spokeswoman for the Sindicato de Inquilinas, said: “The wave of indignation and anger that has been unleashed is now unstoppable.”
She told journalists protesters would ‘remain here’ until the government grants their demands.
The protests were triggered by the eviction of Maria del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, who was forced from the Madrid flat where she had lived for 71 years.
Maricarmen was carried out of her home on a stretcher last Wednesday after police cleared hundreds of protesters who had gathered to try to prevent the eviction.
She had lived in the retiro neighbourhood since 1956, when her father first rented the property.
The building was later sold to investment company Urbagesa, which increased her rent from around €500 to €2,650 a month.
When the company found Maricarmen could not pay, it reduced rent to €1,650 – still more than her €1,350 pension could cover.
Her eviction was attempted three times before authorities finally succeeded on the fourth attempt.
Her case has since become a rallying cry for Spain’s housing movement.
The Bank of Spain estimates Spain was short around 550,000 homes last year, while publicly subsidised rental housing accounts for less than 2% of the country’s housing stock, compared with an EU average of around 8%.
The row has now spilled into the political arena, with prime minister Pedro Sanchez promising to fast-track a new housing decree in response to Maricarmen’s case.
Sanchez said his government was ‘working against the clock’ to bring a housing decree to Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, after Maricarmen publicly called on him to approve measures to prevent evictions like hers.
But the move faces a battle in parliament, where Sanchez’s government will need support from other parties to get the decree approved.
Hard-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal has meanwhile hit back at the protests, branding those camped in Puerta del Sol ‘Sanchez’s militias’ and accusing the government of giving foreigners priority in access to social housing.
Vox’s official X account also sparked controversy by claiming that ‘if Maricarmen were Morocarmen, she would have a home.’
The line is a pun replacing ‘Mari’ with ‘Moro,’ a Spanish term historically used for people from North Africa, to suggest preferential treatment for migrants in access to housing.
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Abascal, is totally divisive and evil. He’s in the mould of Farage in UK and Trump. Will use any crisis to stir trouble. He offered no solutions, only trouble and division. Like Farage et al, evil personified .