Expelled Spanish pensioner must return home, lawyer says

An elderly woman who was evicted from the Madrid apartment in which she lived most of her life and whose case sparked widespread solidarity protests across Spain will be able to return home, her lawyer said Monday.

Last week, a video showed Maria del Carmen Abascal, known by her nickname Maricarmen, taken out of the building on a stretcher and taken into an ambulance.

Maricarmen, aged 87, is wheelchair-bound and lives in the Retiro district of the Spanish capital.

His dramatic eviction struck a chord among Spaniards who took the matter to heart to bring center stage one of the country’s most pressing problems: the housing crisis.

Rising prices and housing shortages have pushed people out of the market in Europe’s fourth-largest economy, with weekend protests putting pressure on Spain’s left-wing government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the Spanish capital on Saturday, many of them then pitching their tents in Madrid’s historic Puerta del Sol square late at night. More people, including multi-generational families, joined on Sunday.

Maricarmen will return home due to ‘social mobilization’, lawyer says

“If this agreement that we have reached is signed, it will obviously be a better and happier result for everyone,” Abascal’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told the press, calling it “a result of social mobilization.”

“I hope that this agreement, this different way of putting an end to this type of situation, which is unfortunately experienced daily in this country, will contribute to changing the paradigm in terms of housing in general,” Duro said.

Spanish housing bill Tuesday fails to meet protesters’ demands

Sanchez, who last week called the eviction a “social tragedy,” hopes to win support for a long-delayed housing bill at Tuesday’s meeting of Spain’s Council of Ministers.

But according to El PaísThe legislation introduced Tuesday does not address protesters’ demands for tougher measures against abusive landlords and a rent freeze until the housing crisis is resolved.

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher

If you rely on our team for reliable reporting, please take a moment to select us as your preferred source on Googleso you will always see our verified news first.