Maricarmen, 87, was evicted from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for about 70 years because she could not afford its €1,650 monthly rent on a €1,350 pension. Courts had halted three earlier eviction attempts.
Maricarmen had lived in the Retiro-district apartment since childhood; her father’s lease began in 1956. After years under a rent cap, Urbagestión bought the property in 2018 and, citing what it said was a legal glitch, raised the monthly rent from €500 to €2,650 before reducing it to €1,650.
Hundreds gathered during the eviction, chanting “Maricarmen stays”; some activists tried to stop the process by blocking the building’s stairs. In a social media video described by the BBC, Maricarmen thanked supporters who stood with her in “this cruel struggle by someone who wants to earn money.”
