Madrid protest demands housing protections after eviction of 87-year-old woman

Thousands marched in Madrid on Saturday to protest Spain's housing crisis, demanding tenant protections, anti-fraud rules, and a ban on evictions without alternative housing. The protest followed the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid apartment. María del Carmen Abascal was removed on a stretcher Wednesday from the Retiro neighborhood home her father first rented in 1956. After the building changed ownership, an investment fund raised her rent from 500 to 2,650 euros monthly, later reducing it to 1,650 euros, which she could not afford on her pension. Spain faces a shortage of about 550,000 homes, with public rental housing under 2% of supply versus the EU average of 8%. Analysts cite tourism and immigration-driven population growth as adding pressure, while incomes have not kept pace with rising costs.