Real estate company backtracks and returns old rent after massive protests over Spain’s housing crisis.
Published on September 29, 2026
Widespread protests have broken out in Spain following the deportation of an 87-year-old woman who is preparing to return to her home in Madrid, her representatives said.
The lawyer representing Maria del Carmen Abascal, known throughout Spain as Maricarmen, said Tuesday that the real estate company had offered to reduce her rent to its pre-dispute rate.
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Under the terms of the agreement, his monthly payments would be capped at about $570 for the next eight years, representing about 30 percent of his pension.
This is the latest development in an ongoing saga that began with his expulsion last week.
Maricarmen became the face of Spain’s worsening housing crisis after an international investment fund bought her building and raised her rent by more than 200 percent to around $1,880 a month, a move aimed at ousting the long-term tenant to make way for lucrative tourist apartments.
Madrid’s tenants’ union staged protests and encampments in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square, attracting tens of thousands of demonstrators before spreading to dozens of other cities.
As soon as the owner’s offer was announced, the union celebrated what it described as a “historic victory” in an article on X.
The government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez responded to the outcry by presenting a package of measures planned for a parliamentary vote this Friday.
The proposal most likely to win approval extends expired tenant guarantees through 2030, protecting vulnerable residents like Abascal from eviction during that time.
The package does not address protesters’ demands and risks facing opposition from conservative parties more sympathetic to landlord interests.
According to the Spanish central bank, the country is short of around 755,000 housing units, a gap that could widen to reach one million units by 2028.
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