Madrid eviction: 87-year-old faces fourth attempt

Mari Carmen, 87, faces a fourth attempt to evict her from her home in Madrid on Wednesday 23 September. Spain’s housing minister Isabel Rodríguez is seeking parliamentary backing for a government decree she says could prevent evictions like hers.

Mari Carmen has lived in the property for seven decades, according to the government. Rodríguez told Congress that ministers were doing everything possible to stop the eviction, with support from the United Nations, Mari Carmen’s lawyers and social movements.

Battle over the eviction decree

Rodríguez urged left-wing parliamentary groups to unite behind the right to housing and against speculation. She said the government had put its proposed decree before Parliament several weeks ago.

She accused the Partido Popular of refusing to support measures to ban evictions. The minister also blamed the Madrid regional government and its president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for failing to meet their housing responsibilities.

ERC demands answers on empty homes

Etna Estrems, an MP for the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), said building more homes alone would not solve Spain’s housing crisis. She pointed to almost four million empty homes recorded in the National Statistics Institute’s 2021 housing census.

ERC wants the government to reveal how many vacant properties are held by banks, public bodies including Sareb and Casa 47, investment funds and major landlords. The party has filed a non-legislative motion calling for updated regional data from the 2025 housing census, cross-checked against the Cadastre and Property Register.

Estrems also questioned the delayed agreement, announced nearly a year ago with the Catalan regional government, covering 13,000 homes and more than 300 Sareb plots. Rodríguez said homes acquired from Sareb had first needed to be bought, refurbished and made ready before they could be offered to users.

Topics: Housing · Politics · Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com