Police use teargas on protesters as disabled 87-year-old evicted from Madrid home

Spanish police used teargas against protesters who were trying to block the eviction of an 87-year-old disabled woman from the Madrid flat she had lived in for seven decades.

Maricarmen was removed from her home in the Retiro district on Wednesday 23 September after the fourth eviction order was executed. Activists and neighbours staged a sit-in at the entrance; riot police used gas and anti-riot equipment to clear them, Russpain reported, while dozens gathered outside as police cordoned off the area.

She has a recognised disability of 50% and has lived in the flat since 1956 under a “renta antigua” contract signed by her father, later passed to her mother and then to her. After Urbagestión bought the building in 2018, the company sought to raise her rent several-fold — reports cite increases of 250% to 275%. She won in the lower courts, but the Supreme Court sided with the owner, clearing the way for Wednesday’s eviction.

The case has ignited a political row. Sumar, the junior coalition partner, called the eviction an “indecency” and demanded the government approve a housing decree with anti-eviction measures without delay — even floating expropriation of the flat. Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy said it was “a shame and it is intolerable”, blaming PP, Vox and Junts for blocking an extension of the anti-eviction moratorium. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez used Wednesday’s parliamentary control session to urge Congress to back a royal decree-law to stop evictions like Maricarmen’s, appealing to parties to “unite” in defence of the right to housing.

A day earlier, activists interrupted Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso at The District, a real estate fair, shouting that an 87-year-old woman was about to be evicted without a housing alternative.

Sources

• Guardian (lead): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/23/madrid-police-teargas-protesters-disabled-woman-evicted — police use teargas on protesters as disabled woman, 87, evicted from Madrid home, 23 Sep 2026.
• Russpain: https://russpain.com/news/police-evict-87-year-old-maricarmen-after-seventy-years-in-her-madrid-home-97748/ — 87, 50% disability, Retiro, 70+ years, riot police used gas to clear sit-in, 1956 renta antigua contract, Urbagestión bought 2018, sought 275% rent rise, lost at Supreme Court, fourth eviction attempt.
• RTVE Noticias: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4vJvaKiTM — 70 years in Retiro apartment near El Retiro Park; rent inherited from father’s contract; 2018 ownership passed to Urbagestión, demanding 250% rise per support groups; won first instance, Supreme Court ruled for investor; fourth eviction order; no alternative housing; neighbours + Tenants’ Union support.
• Demócrata (politics): https://www.democrata.es/en/politics/expansion-sumar-demands-the-psoe-to-approve-the-housing-decree-now-and-to-study-the-expropriation-of-maricarmen-s-apartment-in-light-of-her-eviction/ — Sumar demands housing decree, expropriation study; Bustinduy “indecency”, “shame”, “intolerable”; PP/Vox/Junts blocked moratorium extension; Ayuso “rolled out the red carpet for speculators” at fair.
• Demócrata (economy): https://www.democrata.es/en/economy/rodriguez-urges-to-support-the-housing-decree-to-stop-evictions-like-that-of-maricarmen/ — Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez urged Congress Wednesday to support royal decree-law; fourth eviction attempt; “unite” in defence of the right to housing.
• El Constitucional: https://www.elconstitucional.es/en/communities/madrid/tomorrow-an-87-year-old-woman-is-going-to-be-evicted-the-cry-that-interrupts-ayuso-in-the-middle-of-real-estate-speculation-fair_8107_102.html — activists interrupted Isabel Díaz Ayuso at The District fair Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s eviction; “Tomorrow an 87-year-old lady will be evicted without a housing alternative”.