Dramatic eviction of woman aged 87 highlights Spain's housing shortage
The dramatic eviction of an 87-year-old woman from the home in Madrid where she lived for seven decades has drawn attention to the depth of Spain's housing crisis. The tenant of the flat in the Retiโฆ
The dramatic eviction of an 87-year-old woman from the home in Madrid where she lived for seven decades has drawn attention to the depth of Spain's housing crisis.
The tenant of the flat in the Retiro area of central Madrid, Maricarmen, was unable to pay the rent set by the investment firm that owns it.
Maricarmen's father first rented the property in 1956 and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a cap on the rent.
However, the company that bought the property in 2018, Urbagestiรยณn, cited a legal glitch allowing it to raise her rent from รขยยฌ500 (รยฃ428; $572) to รขยยฌ2,650.
It subsequently lowered the new rent to รขยยฌ1,650 but Maricarmen was still unable to pay it with her monthly pension of รขยยฌ1,350.
Three previous attempts to evict her were blocked by the courts and the case has received increasing media attention.
Supporters of Maricarmen camped outside the building on Tuesday night, joined by celebrities including Javier Bardem's brother, Carlos, and the singer Ana Belรยฉn, who read out the poem Desahucio (Eviction) by Rafael Alberti.
Several hundred people, mostly youngsters, had gathered by the morning in a bid to prevent the eviction from taking place, chanting "Maricarmen stays". Some activists blocked the stairs inside the building.
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