MADRID, Sept. 23, 2026 — An 87-year-old woman was evicted from her Madrid home on Wednesday after living there for more than 70 years, despite protests from hundreds of supporters and criticism of the eviction from government officials.

Maricarmen Abascal was given just 30 minutes to leave the apartment in Madrid’s affluent Retiro neighbourhood, taking only essential belongings with her. She was later carried from the building on a stretcher with the assistance of social services officials and taken away in an ambulance.

Supporters gathered outside the building, chanting messages including “Maricarmen, you’re not alone!” and protesting the eviction. Police intervened when demonstrators blocked the entrance, with Reuters witnesses reporting that officers dragged and pushed some protesters away from the doorway.

The apartment had been acquired by an investment fund, Urbagestion, which sought a significant increase in Abascal’s rent. Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, said representatives of the fund and court officials refused to suspend the eviction despite legal proceedings, humanitarian appeals and efforts by public authorities to find alternative accommodation.

Duro also said an unidentified person had offered to cover Abascal’s rent, but the landlord declined to sign a new lease.

“I’ve lived here for 71 years and I don’t want to leave,” Abascal told reporters before the eviction.

The case has become a symbol of the wider pressures facing long-term tenants in Spain’s major cities, where rising rents, gentrification and a shortage of affordable housing have intensified tensions over access to housing.

Spain’s national government has sought stronger tenant protections and broader rent controls, but the measures have faced difficulties gaining sufficient parliamentary support. Madrid’s conservative regional government, meanwhile, has generally promoted a more market-oriented approach to housing.

The eviction also became linked to a political controversy involving Madrid regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Activists outside the building referenced a separate dispute over the regional government’s purchase, through a public real estate agency, of a €6.3 million ($7.2 million) luxury penthouse.

Opposition parties have accused Ayuso of seeking to use the property as her personal residence while avoiding public spending and transparency rules. Ayuso has denied those allegations.

During the eviction, protesters invoked the controversy by chanting, “Ayuso’s penthouse for Maricarmen!”

The incident has intensified public attention on the competing demands of tenant protection, property rights and the availability of affordable housing in Madrid.

SOURCE: Reuters, Corina Pons, September 23, 2026.