Overview
- Police removed 87‑year‑old Maricarmen from her Madrid flat after the Supreme Court concluded the old 'renta antigua' contract had ended and did not apply a 65% disability exemption, a ruling that triggered the crisis.
- The eviction on Wednesday, September 23 produced a large street response with a multi‑night encampment in Puerta del Sol and protests in cities such as Barcelona led by tenant unions demanding stronger legal safeguards.
- Maricarmen’s lawyers and Urbagestión reported a provisional agreement that would allow her to return if she ratifies a new eight‑year lease with rent capped at no more than 30% of her net income while she remains under medical care.
- The government is preparing an emergency 'decreto Maricarmen' to present to the Council of Ministers, with last‑minute talks testing the coalition as left‑wing partners push for automatic renewals and broader eviction bans while Junts and the PNV resist measures seen as burdening small landlords.
- The episode has focused attention on structural causes — sharp rent rises, short‑term lets and the concentration of rental stock in multi‑property owners and funds — and makes the decree a short‑term test that could prompt longer reforms or political fallout ahead of elections.