Police clashed with protesters in Madrid after authorities carried out the eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, from the apartment where she had lived since 1956.

Thousands of people gathered in Madrid and other Spanish cities to protest the eviction. A demonstration organised by the Madrid Tenants’ Union drew around 10,000 people, according to the Spanish government’s delegation in Madrid.

Protesters partially blocked the street outside a luxury penthouse acquired by the Madrid regional government through the publicly owned company Planifica Madrid. Demonstrators chanted slogans including “We are all Maricarmen” and called for Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso to resign. They also demanded that the property be made available to Maricarmen.

Police removed some demonstrators by force during the protest. The Madrid Tenants’ Union criticised the police response and said it would continue campaigning for housing rights.

Similar demonstrations were reported in Barcelona, Seville, Ávila, Cádiz, Palma, Toledo, Valencia, Guadalajara, Málaga and Huelva, as tenants’ groups called for action against evictions and measures to address Spain’s housing crisis.

Maricarmen was evicted on Wednesday from the apartment at 46 Alcalde Sainz de Baranda Street in Madrid’s Retiro district, where she had lived for more than 70 years. It was the fourth attempt to remove her from the property after previous eviction dates were postponed.

Dozens of supporters gathered outside the building from the early hours of the morning in an attempt to prevent the eviction. Police eventually established a cordon around the entrance, restricting access for supporters and members of the press.

At around 10:30 a.m., after approximately an hour of negotiations between Maricarmen’s lawyer and court officials, authorities confirmed that the eviction would proceed. Police then removed protesters from the area.

An ambulance was positioned outside the building, while medical workers entered with a stretcher to assist in taking the elderly woman from the property. Spanish media reported that activists attempted to block the eviction in the street, on the stairwell and inside the apartment before being removed by police.

Maricarmen’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, made a final request for the company to delay the eviction by several days so her client could find alternative accommodation. Duro said the company refused to give Maricarmen even a few additional hours to remove her belongings.

The dispute dates back to a regulated tenancy signed by Maricarmen’s parents in 1956, with her father initially listed as the tenant. After his death, the tenancy passed to his wife and then, following her death in 2005, to Maricarmen.

The property remained in private ownership for decades before being sold in 2018 to Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión S.L., a property company based in Madrid and Valladolid. The company argued that the second succession of the tenancy was invalid and that the original contract had expired.

The legal dispute eventually reached Spain’s Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the property owners in March, overturning an earlier decision that had supported Maricarmen’s position.

Maricarmen receives a pension that is lower than the €2,500 monthly rent demanded by the company, which was several times higher than the rent she had previously paid. She also has a disability and was unable to afford the new amount.

The company has also sought €10,000 in damages from the Madrid Tenants’ Union over its campaign supporting Maricarmen.

The eviction had already been attempted in October 2025 but was halted by a court the day before. A second attempt on June 2 this year was also postponed at the last minute.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had called on the Spanish government to halt the eviction and ensure that Maricarmen had access to adequate housing. The request, made in June, did not prevent the eviction from going ahead.

In Spain’s Congress, Socialist spokesperson Patxi López defended the government’s position and said responsibility for housing matters lay with Madrid’s city and regional governments. He also said the property owners had rejected offers to purchase the apartment.

Madrid City Council said it had previously offered Maricarmen several housing options and that municipal services had contacted her before the eviction. Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida declined to provide further details, citing her privacy.

The city’s housing department said Maricarmen had explicitly rejected the accommodation options offered to her. After Wednesday’s eviction, Samur Social again offered her a place in a residential facility, but she declined and chose instead to stay with relatives.

The eviction ends a years-long legal dispute over the apartment where Maricarmen had lived since she was 17 and where her parents died. Her case has become closely associated with wider debates over housing affordability and evictions in Madrid.

SOURCE: Yahoo News, Cristian Caraballo, September 24, 2026.