Story perspectives

Madrid eviction sparks protests after 178-172 housing decree defeat

By Drooid · Oct 3, 2026, 2:01 PM UTC · How we work

Center

Housing Decrees Blocked

In late September 2026, 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from her Madrid apartment after a rent increase.
Centre-right parties blocked the government’s emergency housing decrees, sparking large protests and early-election speculation.
The People’s Party, Vox, Junts and Together for Catalonia voted against both measures.
That eviction-ban decree lost 178-172, while the renewal decree fell 184-166.
Around 1,500 tents were erected in Puerta del Sol, with similar camps elsewhere.

Left

Nationwide Tenant Protests

On September 23 2026, 87-year-old wheelchair-user Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from her Madrid apartment after a steep rent increase.
The eviction sparked nationwide protests demanding stronger tenant protections and condemning speculative ‘vulture fund’ evictions.
Police removed Abascal on a stretcher after four failed eviction attempts on the same day.
The rent hike rose from €500 to €2,650, far above her €1,350 monthly pension.

Blindspot

Centre-right parties, such as the People’s Party and Vox, voted down both housing decrees, rejecting the eviction-ban measure 178-172 and the lease-renewal measure 184-166, according to center-leaning reports.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Center-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Left-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

The 2008 collapse of Spain’s property bubble sparked a sovereign debt crisis that forced the Zapatero government to seek a €100 billion rescue from the European Stability Mechanism in June 2012. The crisis drove unemployment to 24 % by early 2012 and prompted ECB interventions later that year. Those unresolved housing-market tensions re-emerged in September 2026 protests against emergency rental decrees.

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Housing Decrees Blocked

In late September 2026, 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from her Madrid apartment after a rent increase.
Centre-right parties blocked the government’s emergency housing decrees, sparking large protests and early-election speculation.
The People’s Party, Vox, Junts and Together for Catalonia voted against both measures.
That eviction-ban decree lost 178-172, while the renewal decree fell 184-166.
Around 1,500 tents were erected in Puerta del Sol, with similar camps elsewhere.

1 / 4