An 87-year-old woman at the centre of widespread housing protests in Spain is set to return to her Madrid home, her representatives announced on Tuesday. The development comes as the Spanish government approved new housing measures, including a ban on evictions until 2030, in response to the country's deepening housing crisis.

Maria del Carmen Abascal, known across Spain as Maricarmen, will have her rent reduced to its pre-dispute rate, according to her lawyer, as reported by Al Jazeera. Under the agreement, her monthly payments will be capped at approximately $570 for the next eight years, representing about 30% of her pension.

Maricarmen's situation became a focal point for the housing crisis after she was evicted from her apartment last Wednesday on a stretcher and subsequently admitted to hospital, according to the BBC. The eviction followed an international investment fund, identified by the BBC as Urbagestión, purchasing her building in 2018 and increasing her rent by more than 200% to roughly $1,880 a month, a move aimed at displacing long-term tenants to create tourist apartments, Al Jazeera reported. Her father first rented the flat in 1956, and she had lived there with a rent cap after her parents died until the property was bought by the investment company, the BBC stated.

Government Responds with New Measures

Spain's coalition government, led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, approved a package of new housing measures on Tuesday. Ministers met to discuss the proposals, which include:

  • A ban on evictions until 2030.
  • Rolling over rental contracts until 2028.
  • Stricter regulation of short-term and room rentals.
  • Banning investment firms from buying housing, which the government referred to as "vulture funds."

The proposals, presented as two decrees, come into effect immediately but require approval by Congress within a month, with the government hoping for a vote as soon as this Friday, according to the BBC. Health Minister Mónica García of the Sumar alliance said the measures would bring relief to more than five million people, the BBC reported. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez urged political parties to support the decrees, stating, "Congress has the opportunity to tell Maricarmen that her suffering was worth it... and that many people will benefit from her battle," according to the BBC.

Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy, also of the Sumar alliance, described the measures as "a first step towards the economic and social transformation of the country," the BBC reported. He noted that Sumar's firm stance on the issue was a key factor in the negotiations with the Socialists.

Widespread Protests and Housing Crisis Context

The government's actions follow large protests that erupted across Spain in response to Maricarmen's eviction. The Madrid Tenants' Union organised protests and encampments in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, drawing tens of thousands of demonstrators before spreading to dozens of other cities, including Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Cadiz, and Zaragoza, according to Al Jazeera and the BBC. Hundreds of tents have been set up in Puerta del Sol since the protests began, the BBC added.

Upon the announcement of the landlord's offer to Maricarmen, the Madrid Tenants' Union celebrated what it described as a "historic win" in a post on X, Al Jazeera reported.

Spain faces a significant housing crisis. According to Spain's central bank, the country is short of approximately 700,000 to 755,000 homes, a gap that could widen to one million units by 2028, Al Jazeera and the BBC reported. House prices increased by 12.2% in the past year, as per figures for the second quarter of 2026 from the national statistics institute INE, the BBC stated. Rental costs rose by 8.5% in 2025, with Madrid seeing a 9.7% increase, according to real estate firm Idealista, the BBC noted. Madrid and Barcelona are Spain's most expensive cities to rent a home, at €22.70 and €23.80 per square metre respectively.

The impact of the crisis is also evident in other cases. In Zaragoza, another woman, Esmeralda Tejero, 51, had her eviction temporarily suspended on Tuesday, the European Pressphoto Agency reported via the BBC. Tejero, who lives with her 11-year-old daughter, stopped paying rent due to affordability issues, she told Catalan newspaper el Periódico on Monday, according to the BBC.

Political Challenges and Future Outlook

Despite the immediate effect of the decrees, their parliamentary approval is not guaranteed. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's leftist coalition government lacks a majority in parliament and has previously struggled to gain support from right-leaning parties for similar measures, the BBC reported. In April, a decree aimed at rolling over rental contracts was blocked by right-leaning parties.

Opposition politician Míriam Nogueras, spokeswoman for the centre-right Catalan nationalists of Junts party, expressed concerns that the agreement left "small landlords out in the cold," the BBC reported. She stated that while evictions by "vulture funds" should be stopped, lumping in those who invested savings in a flat was a mistake. The Junts party, whose support may be crucial, and other right-leaning parties are generally reluctant to intervene in the housing market in ways that favour tenants over landlords, the BBC added.

The government has 30 days from the decrees' publication to reach an agreement in parliament. While the Madrid Tenants' Union celebrated the deal for Maricarmen, spokeswoman Valeria Racu said the "battle had only just begun" and called for more protests across Spain next weekend, according to the BBC. Another spokeswoman, Alicia del Río, added, "We all have our eyes on the text, on the small print, to make sure this is the Maricarmen decree."