Please fight: How an elderly woman’s eviction put Spain’s housing crisis in the spotlight, tell me about this news in (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/please-fight-how-an-elderly-woman-s-eviction-put-spain-s-housing-crisis-in-the-spotlight/ar-AA2d4rJX?ocid=BingNewsVerp)

The news centers on Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman whose dramatic eviction from the central Madrid apartment where she had lived for 70 years has ignited massive national protests and put Spain’s severe housing crisis at the forefront of the country’s political agenda.

Abascal’s family originally rented the flat in 1956 under older rent-control frameworks. After the property changed hands, an investment fund bought it and attempted to sharply raise her rent, a price increase she could not afford on her pension. Despite previous legal delays and crowds of protesters and housing activists gathering outside her building to block the authorities, she was eventually removed from her home on a stretcher and taken to a hospital due to exhaustion and medical testing.

Her plight struck a deep nerve across Spain, where soaring rental prices, gentrification, short-term tourist rentals, and a severe shortage of affordable housing have made finding a home increasingly difficultespecially for young people and vulnerable tenants.

Following her eviction, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Madrid and other major Spanish cities like Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia, demanding government action against real estate speculation and rising costs. Demonstrators also set up a tent camp in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square.

From the hospital, Abascal released a video message thanking supporters and urging them not to give up, telling them, “Please fight. I did not manage to defend my home, but I have fought so that others learn to fight for theirs.” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other political figures have faced mounting pressure to address the crisis, which has exposed deep structural flaws in Spain’s housing and rental markets.