Spain's evicted grandma, 87, is to return home after protests forced investment fund to back down

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026.

Maricarmen Abascal, 87, is set to sign a new rental contract allowing her to return to the Madrid flat she occupied for over 70 years, after her lawyer struck a deal with investment fund Urbagestión. The disabled pensioner was dragged out on a stretcher last week when riot police escorted bailiffs to enforce the eviction, sparking nationwide fury. Her rent had been hiked from €500 to €2,650 a month — more than her entire monthly pension.

Abascal's lawyer Beatriz Duro credited the reversal to 'social mobilisation', as up to 1,000 protesters gathered at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where hundreds of tents have been pitched since Saturday.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez's cabinet agreed housing relief measures on Tuesday, though critics including Madrid regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso accused the government of responding too slowly.

Abascal, who is being treated in hospital for exhaustion, will sign the deal once she has recovered — and her Tenants' Union is demanding deeper reforms 'so that there are no more Maricarmens'.