A wave of nationwide public protests driven by outrage over the forced eviction of an 87-year-old Madrid woman has pushed Spain’s minority coalition government to approve a sweeping package of new housing policies aimed at taming the country’s deepening affordable housing crisis. The emergency measures, finalized during a cabinet meeting Tuesday, include a proposed nationwide ban on residential evictions that would remain in place until 2030, alongside extensions of existing rental contracts through 2028, tighter oversight of short-term vacation and shared room rentals, and a full prohibition on residential property purchases by large investment firms. The 87-year-old woman at the center of the unfolding crisis, Maricarmen Abascal, reached a last-minute deal with the property-owning company on Monday that will allow her to return to her home, her lawyer confirmed ahead of the cabinet’s announcement. Abascal was hospitalized after being forcibly removed from her apartment on a stretcher last week, and has not yet been able to sign the agreement due to her ongoing health issues. Following her eviction, hundreds of protesters set up a permanent encampment at Madrid’s central Puerto del Sol square, with parallel demonstrations erupting across major Spanish cities including Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, and Cadiz to demand urgent government action on skyrocketing housing costs and widespread evictions. Speaking after the cabinet vote, Health Minister Mónica García emphasized that the proposed reforms would deliver much-needed relief to more than five million Spanish households struggling with housing instability. “It is time to intervene in the speculative housing market and start striking a balance between ordinary citizens and vulture funds,” García said, adding that the policy agreement would never have happened without widespread public mobilization. “Thanks to the mobilisations and the encampments. Without you, this would not have been possible.” However, the package has already drawn sharp criticism from opposition lawmakers, who argue that the new rules unfairly penalize small, private property owners by grouping them together with large speculative investment firms. Míriam Nogueras, a spokeswoman for pro-Catalan independence party Junts, noted that there is widespread consensus that evictions carried out by large, multi-million euro vulture funds must be halted, but lumping small landlords who have invested their life savings in a single residential property into the same regulatory category is a critical error. “This agreement leaves small landlords out in the cold,” Nogueras told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. The new housing measures now face a major hurdle in parliament, where the ruling leftist coalition of the Socialist Workers’ Party and junior coalition partner Sumar holds no overall majority. Under Spanish law, the government has 30 days from the formal publication of the decree to secure parliamentary approval for the reforms. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez is scheduled to present a full breakdown of the policy details at a public press conference later Tuesday.
Spain announces new housing measures after protests over 87-year-old woman’s eviction
