Europe · updated 2h ago · 2 min read
Pedro Sánchez Calls Maricarmen Abascal Eviction A Social Tragedy After Police Remove Her From Retiro Home
87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal evicted from her Madrid Retiro home after 71 years. Police enforced eviction amid protests; she was carried out on a stretcher.
Whether to frame as political paralysis or as event reporting.
11 of 13 outlets skipped it: UN Committee called for halting eviction and offering alternative accommodation.
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SSCMP
“political paralysis that has thwarted efforts to resolve Spain’s chronic housing crisis”Read the original ↗
SCMP frames the eviction as political paralysis, while DW largely reports the on-the-ground eviction scene and legal timeline.
Madrid eviction sparks outrage
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Maricarmen Abascal’s eviction a “social tragedy” after police removed the 87-year-old from her Madrid home in the Retiro neighborhood where she had lived for 70 years. Maricarmen had resided for 70 years in the upmarket central Retiro neighborhood next to the popular UNESCO-listed park of the same name, and she was carried on a stretcher into an ambulance as protesters chanted “Maricarmen, you aren't alone!” behind a security cordon.
Urbagestión raised Maricarmen’s rent from €500 to €2,650 before lowering it to €1,650, and she still could not pay with her monthly pension of €1,350. The BBC also said the eviction followed three previous attempts that were blocked by the courts, and it said supporters camped outside the building on Tuesday night, joined by celebrities including Javier Bardem's brother, Carlos, and the singer Ana Belén, who read out the poem Desahucio (Eviction) by Rafael Alberti.
Rent hikes, legal battles
Urbagestión cited a legal basis for the rent increase, and the BBC said it “cited a legal glitch allowing it to raise her rent from €500” to €2,650. 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.
Maricarmen’s supporters described the rent rise as an increase of 275 percent to 2,650 euros, and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the firm, clearing the way for the eviction. A tearful Maricarmen thanked supporters against “this cruel struggle by someone who wants to earn money,” and police removed people from the entrance to the building, striking some protesters with batons.
Political blame and proposed fixes
Sánchez argued that preventing such cases requires “a shared responsibility” between his minority left-wing coalition and the rest of Parliament, and he defended a law he considered “absolutely necessary” to prevent this type of eviction. Housing Minister Teresa Rodríguez blamed the eviction on “unbridled speculation” and on “putting out the red carpet for the vultures and the speculators,” after the eviction went ahead.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called in June for the pensioner’s eviction to be halted and for her to be offered affordable alternative accommodation, and the local government said she had declined its offer of a place in an elderly care home. The central government said Urbagestión refused repeated attempts to negotiate Maricarmen’s situation, and an anonymous donor offered to pay most of her rent but Urbagestión reportedly rejected the offer.