Eviction of pensioner puts Spain housing crisis in spotlight

Prices have risen particularly sharply in Madrid, which has topped real estate firm Barnes’ global ranking for luxury properties for two consecutive years.(AFP) — The eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid home has highlighted political gridlock that has thwarted efforts to address Spain’s chronic housing crisis, fueling debate ahead of next year’s election.Maricarmen’s 70 years in her apartment in an upscale central Madrid neighborhood ended Wednesday when she was carried out on a stretcher, with protesters on one side and police on the other. The eviction was broadcast live on television.Unable to afford a 275% increase in monthly rent imposed by the real estate firm that owned her apartment, she has become a symbol of a crisis that has troubled Spain for years.Thousands of people protested in Madrid, Barcelona and elsewhere Wednesday night, outraged by the eviction and a housing market widely denounced as unaffordable for renters and buyers, young and old alike.“The law was upheld and the market worked. But it is the law of the jungle in a broken market, and it is a failure,” the left-leaning daily El País said in an editorial.Over the past 10 years, the average price per square meter to rent or buy has risen about 50%, according to real estate portal Idealista and official figures.Prices have risen particularly sharply in Madrid, which has topped real estate firm Barnes’ global ranking for luxury properties for two consecutive years.Residents of Spain, the world’s second-most-visited country, often blame short-term tourist rentals such as Airbnb for driving up prices and reducing supply. The issue has sparked large protests in tourist destinations including Barcelona.Popular anger is also directed at investment funds, which detractors call “vulture funds” and accuse of prioritizing profit over affordability when buying properties.A shortage of public housing is also part of the problem. Just 1.2% of Spain’s housing stock is publicly owned, according to figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, far below the share in countries such as Britain, France and the Netherlands.Spanish consumer group OCU said finding an apartment in Madrid or Barcelona for less than 700 euros a month was now “extremely difficult” and called for more “affordable” rental housing.‘Tragedy’Outrage over the eviction has dominated political debate as parties prepare for next year’s general election.But the political fallout is difficult to predict in Spain, where power is decentralized and local politicians often take the blame for perceived policy failures.The leftist national government has spent years trying to reform the housing market, but regional authorities hold most powers over housing.Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist, blamed Madrid’s conservative-led city and regional governments for their roles in Maricarmen’s eviction, calling it an unacceptable “social tragedy.”Madrid regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso of the right-wing Popular Party hit back Thursday, accusing the national government of “demagoguery” and “not doing anything” during Sánchez’s eight years in office.Against a backdrop of “inflation and loss of purchasing power,” “this situation helps none of the parties,” said Guillermo Fernández Vázquez, a professor at Madrid’s Carlos III University.The eviction has “again laid bare the failure of all the housing policies of the government” and its “powerlessness,” Fernández Vázquez told AFP.Sánchez urged parliament to pass a law banning such evictions, but his coalition lacks a majority and has shown signs of strain over the incident.Sumar, a far-left junior coalition partner, has demanded a rent freeze and the expropriation of Maricarmen’s former home.“There is no legal umbrella that enables the suspension of the eviction of vulnerable people,” Maricarmen’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told public broadcaster RTVE.But “these protections that have always existed through royal decrees end up being sticking plasters and insufficient,” she added.Fernández Vázquez said the Popular Party would also “want to wrap up that matter as soon as possible” amid a dispute over a luxury Madrid penthouse that Ayuso allegedly acquired with public money.Ayuso denies wrongdoing.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads