Overview
- An 87-year-old Madrid tenant, María del Carmen Abascal, was carried out of her flat on a stretcher during a court-ordered eviction that took place on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and her case triggered tens of thousands of protesters and a large encampment in Puerta del Sol.
- After days of street pressure the Socialist-led coalition approved a cabinet decree that ministers say would halt many evictions until 2030, create automatic renewals of some rental contracts, regulate short-term rentals, and curb purchases by so-called vulture funds.
- Abascal has been offered a preliminary agreement by the fund that owns her building to return home with her rent capped at about 30 percent of her pension, roughly €500 a month, pending her acceptance and discharge from hospital.
- The decree must be ratified by the fragmented Congress within 30 days and the government lacks a majority, so smaller parties such as Junts and other crossbenchers will determine whether the measures become law.
- Spain’s housing squeeze is structural and long-running with the Bank of Spain estimating a shortfall of roughly 700,000–755,000 homes, a gap that helps explain why tenant unions remain cautious and say they will scrutinize the decree’s fine print and keep organising.