MADRID — The eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid home of more than seven decades last week triggered large demonstrations across Spain. Protesters pitched tents in the central Puerta del Sol square, directly outside the Madrid regional government headquarters.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his cabinet would address the issue during its meeting on Tuesday. Public anger over evictions has mounted as property prices and rents continue to outpace real wage growth.
Pilar Lopez, 65, experienced a similar situation this summer in Palma de Mallorca. She spent two months sleeping in her car after being evicted from an apartment where she had lived for 12 years. Lopez suffers from a serious chronic condition stemming from a spinal injury.
An investment fund purchased Lopez's property from the bank with which she held a rental contract. The fund offered her money to vacate, which she refused. Unable to contest the eviction, Lopez now resides in temporary accommodation at a hostal. She believes her former flat has been refurbished and repurposed as a holiday letting.
Spain faces an acute housing shortage shared by several other European nations. The slow pace of home construction fails to meet demand, contributing to soaring property prices and rapid rent increases. The country has not matched its pre-2008 financial crisis homebuilding rate.
The Bank of Spain reports a current deficit of approximately 750,000 homes, a figure projected to grow to more than a million by 2028. This deficit is nearly double that of Italy.
Increased tourism and fewer people able to afford homeownership have intensified pressure on the rental market. The average rental price of €1,176, equivalent to $1,337, constitutes about 98.7 percent of the average monthly salary in Spain, according to data from the Youth Council of Spain.
A law enacted during the pandemic to protect vulnerable tenants expired in March after opposition parties rejected its extension, removing a key safeguard for renters.
Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for Spain's Confederation of Tenants Unions, which coordinated the Madrid protest, said, "The crumbs that Sánchez was prepared to offer us are no longer enough." The group demands approval of a new "MariCarmen decree."
Tenant advocacy groups are calling for the automatic renewal of rental contracts, similar to indefinite rental contracts in the Netherlands, Austria and Germany. They also advocate for a measure akin to one in Britain that prohibits evicting tenants without justification. Under their proposal, a landlord unable to justify non-renewal would compensate the tenant with one month's rent.
The housing challenges in Spain reflect a broader European trend. This month, the far-left Left Party won Berlin's state election on a platform promising affordable housing and the nationalization of private housing associations.
