Spain’s coalition government said on Tuesday it had agreed new measures to address the country’s housing crisis after the forcible removal of an 87-year-old pensioner from her Madrid apartment last week sparked solidarity protests across the country. Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said the housing legislation includes a ban on evictions until 2030, stricter rules for short-term rentals and a two-year extension for existing leases. “It is time to intervene in the speculative real estate market and begin to rebalance the balance between citizens and vulture funds,” García, who belongs to the leftist government’s coalition junior partner, Sumar, wrote in a post on X. The legislation must still be approved by parliament. The Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ministers, approved the measures after a meeting. But since Sánchez heads a minority government, he still depends on the votes of other parties in parliament before the bill becomes law. Sánchez’s ruling Socialists held talks with coalition partners Sumar and others until Tuesday. Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez is scheduled to hold a press conference later on Tuesday. A case that sparked mass protests in Spain Last week’s images and videos showing María del Carmen Abascal, known by her nickname Maricarmen, being escorted from her apartment by riot police officers struck a chord with Spaniards who have long called for a solution to the country’s housing crisis. Maricarmen’s father had rented the house for the first time in 1956 in the Retiro neighborhood of Madrid and she continued as a tenant after the death of her parents. Spanish newspaper El País reported that Maricarmen had rented the apartment to a private owner until 2018, after which a real estate company acquired the property and took over its management. Thousands of people demonstrate against evictions and the real estate crisis in Spain Image: Richard Zubelzu/NurPhoto/Picture Alliance The protesters set up camps in Puerta del Sol Image: David Canales/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Picture Alliance The protesters were angry because Maricarmen was removed from the apartment where she had lived since 1956 Image: Bruno Thevenin/Middle East Images/Picture Alliance According to the newspaper, the legal dispute between Maricarmen and the real estate company lasted eight years and his last attempt to evict her from the apartment marked his fourth attempt to do so. The issue has put Spain’s housing market in the spotlight, where many long-term tenants have been forced out of their apartments due to an affordability crisis and housing shortage in Europe’s fourth-largest economy. Protesters rallied around Maricarmen’s cause, especially as photographs of her being carried out of her apartment building and into an ambulance were vividly present on social media. She is also a wheelchair user. Thousands of people then took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday, with many ending their protest by setting up tents in Madrid’s historic Puerta del Sol square at the end of the night. More people, including multigenerational families, joined in on Sunday. Maricarmen will return home due to ‘social mobilization,’ says lawyer Maricarmen’s lawyer said Monday that she would be able to return home, calling the victory a “result of social mobilization.” “If this agreement we have reached is signed, it will obviously be a better and happier result for everyone,” Abascal’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told the press. “Hopefully this agreement, this different way of putting an end to this type of situation that unfortunately occurs every day in this country, helps change the paradigm in terms of housing in general,” said Duro. Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher If you trust our team for trustworthy reporting, please take a moment to select us as your preferred source on Google so you always see our verified news first.
