Madrid protests enter third day after pensioner’s eviction

Protesters in Madrid continued their demonstration on Monday against the eviction of an 80-year-old woman, demanding stronger protections for tenants amid a housing shortage and rising rents.

The protests erupted last week after police carried 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal out of her Madrid home on a stretcher, where she had lived for more than seven decades, under an eviction order secured by the investment fund that bought her apartment.

Hundreds of people outside the block clashed with police, while the left-wing central government condemned the right-wing regional administration for failing to prevent the eviction.

By Monday, hundreds of tents filled the central Puerta del Sol square, echoing the 2011 protests, when it was occupied for a month by activists demonstrating against the austerity measures adopted during the global financial crisis.

On Saturday, around 30,000 people marched through Madrid to protest the treatment of Maricarmen and others forced out of their homes by investment funds.

Marchers waved keys and carried banners with slogans including “Housing is for living.”

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Sunday that the government was working to pass a housing decree in parliament by Tuesday, which would bring immediate relief to tenants.

Rents have on average doubled over the past decade, far outpacing wage growth.

Spain has a deficit of 750,000 homes, according to the central bank. Only about 120,000 are built each year — a sixth of the pre-2008 financial crisis level.