Spanish Pensioner Evicted From Home of 70 Years Wins Right to Return, Lawyer Confirms

An 87-year-old disabled woman whose forced removal from her Madrid apartment ignited nationwide demonstrations in Spain will be permitted to move back into the property she has called home for more than seven decades, her legal representative has confirmed.

Maricarmen Abascal was carried out of her flat on a stretcher on 23 September after a long-running dispute with the investment company that purchased the building in 2018. The dramatic scenes, captured on camera, saw her taken to hospital shortly afterwards, where she has since been treated for exhaustion.

Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told reporters at a press conference that an agreement had been reached between the parties and that Abascal would be able to return under a fresh rental contract. Crucially, the new arrangement will see her pay a sum similar to what she paid before the dispute escalated, preventing a steep rise that had placed her home beyond her financial reach.

Duro described the outcome as the product of "goodwill from both parties" and, more significantly, the "result of the social mobilisation" that followed the eviction. She explained that the deal has not yet been formally signed, and that Abascal — who is still recovering — would put her signature to the document once she feels strong enough to do so.

The case centres on a tenancy that stretches back to 1956, when Abascal's father first rented the property. She remained in the flat after her parents died and continued paying rent under a regime that, at the time, was subject to a government cap limiting how much landlords could charge.

That situation changed fundamentally in 2018, when the investment firm Urbagestión acquired the property. The company moved to raise the monthly rent from €500 (roughly £428 or $572) to €2,650 (£2,280 or $3,020) — an increase of more than five times the original amount. The firm later softened its position and offered to reduce the figure to €1,650, but even that revised sum remained far beyond Abascal's means, given that her monthly pension amounts to just €1,350.

Three separate attempts to remove her from the apartment had previously been blocked by the courts, a detail that underscores the legal complexity surrounding long-standing tenancies in Spain. The eventual eviction nonetheless went ahead, prompting a wave of public outrage that rapidly transcended the individual case.

Within days, the episode had become a focal point for anger over Spain's broader housing emergency. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the Spanish capital on the Saturday following the eviction, calling not only for Abascal to be allowed back into her home but also for stronger legal protections for tenants facing similar pressures. Protesters wearing orange could be seen surrounding the elderly woman's wheelchair in images that circulated widely.

The political consequences have been equally significant. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has pledged to introduce housing relief measures, with his cabinet due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the package. His Socialist Party, which governs without a parliamentary majority, is seeking to pass legislation aimed at calming public frustration and addressing the structural problems laid bare by the case.

Those structural problems are considerable. The Bank of Spain estimates that the country is short of approximately 700,000 homes, a figure calculated by measuring the gap between existing demand and the pace of new construction. That shortfall has helped drive rents sharply higher in major cities, leaving many long-term residents vulnerable to displacement when properties change hands or leases come up for renewal.

For Abascal's supporters, the agreement represents a hard-won victory, but not an end to the campaign. Campaigners have made clear they intend to keep pressing for measures that would prevent comparable evictions and to demand a substantial expansion of affordable housing across the country.

The case has also drawn attention to the intersection of disability, age and housing insecurity. Abascal, who is wheelchair-dependent and living on a modest state pension, found herself at the centre of a dispute in which the financial calculations of a property investment firm collided with the practical realities of an elderly tenant with no realistic alternative accommodation. Her treatment became, for many Spaniards, emblematic of a system that they believe prioritises returns on property over the security of longstanding residents.

Attention now turns to the government's proposed legislative response. If Sánchez's cabinet can agree on a package of housing relief measures, it will face the challenge of securing enough support in a fragmented parliament to turn those proposals into law. The outcome will determine whether the mobilisation sparked by Abascal's eviction translates into durable protections for tenants, or whether her case remains an isolated, albeit symbolic, exception to a deepening national crisis.