Spain set to ban evictions after nationwide outrage over 87-year-old removed from home

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Spain ’s coalition government has agreed plans to ban evictions until 2030 in a bid to tackle the country’s housing crisis, as an 87-year-old woman whose forced removal sparked protests is currently considering an offer to return to her home.

Hundreds of demonstrators remained camped in a major Madrid square on Tuesday to protest against the removal on a stretcher of Maricarmen Abascal last Wednesday. They are demanding legislative reforms, including a rent freeze and the automatic renewal of leases without abusive price increases.

Health Minister Monica Garcia said on Tuesday that the governing Socialists and junior partner Sumar had reached an agreement on a suite of new measures, including contract extensions until 2028 and a ban on so-called vulture funds from the housing market. However, the minority administration faces a tough challenge securing support in a fragmented parliament.

The proposals will be split into two decrees for a parliamentary vote on Friday, with most included in the first. The "final sticking point" of automatic contract renewals sits in the second decree, Social Affairs Minister Pablo Bustinduy told a press conference.

"It is time to intervene in the speculative housing market and start striking a balance between ordinary citizens and vulture funds," Garcia wrote on X.

Junts, the Catalan pro-independence party that would need to back the decree for it to pass, said on Tuesday it was still far from agreeing on all measures and wanted protection for small landlords, who make up the vast majority of property owners in Spain.

"We all agreed that evictions – where the property is owned by a fund, a vulture fund, run by someone managing millions of euros – obviously need to be stopped," Junts parliamentary spokesperson Miriam Nogueras said on RTVE.

"Lumping together in this category those who have invested their savings in a flat, a restaurant or a property – putting them all in the same basket – is a mistake," she added.

The lawyer for pensioner Abascal said on Tuesday that UrbaGestion, the fund that owns her apartment, had offered a preliminary agreement late on Monday that could allow her return to her home if she agrees to its terms. They would imply paying 30% of her pension over the next eight years, equivalent to around €500 a month.

This would see her paying a similar level as prior to the eviction.

"She should never have been forced to leave," Beatriz Duro told reporters. "I hope this case serves to provide a collective response to the housing crisis."

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