El desahucio de Maricarmen: Mucho buitre (político) y poco fondo

El scandalous eviction of Maricarmen is merely a prelude to the political battle over the housing crisis ahead of the elections. Prime Minister Sánchez is employing populism to gain ground. It remains to be seen what Feijóo will face if elected in the next year and if she assumes power, as the housing crisis will become a political battleground.

Feijóo should be aware that numerous stories like Maricarmen's will emerge in Spain, which is rapidly advancing. It seems that Maricarmen was kicked out of her home by Feijóo and his associates, Abascal, Ayuso, and Almeida, all in an attempt to appease their insatiable appetite for votes, which ultimately belongs to a large, predatory company.

The truth is, Maricarmen was evicted this Wednesday by 50 riot police sent by the government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín Aguirre – a staunch supporter of Pedro Sánchez – to enforce a ruling stemming from two Socialist Party laws passed by Felipe González. The first law, Miguel Boyer's decree from 1985, abolished forced tenancy concessions in rental contracts, while the second, Josep Borrell's 1994 Rent Law, aimed to foreclose on outdated rental contracts dating back to Franco's reign, which Irene Montero now uses as a template.

The goal wasn't to criticize these Socialist laws, but rather to expose the hypocrisy of politicians who, three decades later, have made demagoguery their way of life. Earlier, the government blamed Franco for Maricarmen's plight, a claim Irene Montero, a Social Democrat, has been spreading as well. She claimed that Maricarmen would have been evicted because Franco's misogynistic laws prohibited married women (not single or widowed women) from signing rental contracts (true), leading to double subrogations of the contract (once from her father to her mother, and again from her mother to herself), ultimately leaving her homeless.

This second claim is false, as the 1994 Rent Law states that children can only subrogate the contract for two years, regardless of whether it is the first or second time it occurs, meaning Maricarmen has been homeless for 32 years due to Socialist legislation, not Franco's. The fake version of Redondo's statement was repeated on Televisión Española during peak viewing hours by David Broncano on his show "La Revuelta."

The government seized upon Maricarmen's case to counterbalance its struggles in Ceuta due to the influx of 15,000 immigrants, the allure of Zapatero's gifts (which the former president finally revealed after four months of receiving them from the late King of Saudi Arabia), and the upcoming trial of former Prime Minister's wife Begoña Gómez for alleged public funds embezzlement and influence peddling.

In these circumstances, Sánchez has thrown everything at the issue, despite the contradictions that have dogged him, such as the Socialist Party's recent abstention when Sumar proposed banning buitre funds from purchasing properties. This was done due to Carlos Cuerpo's warning that such measures would deter investors needed to build the housing Spain desperately requires.

Following Maricarmen's ordeal, the Socialist Party has abandoned any real solution to the housing crisis and is now using it as a bold electoral weapon, tempting to sink lower in its populism to exacerbate the problem. By exploiting Maricarmen's crisis, Sumar seeks to revive the recently rejected idea of capping rents, even proposing the expropriation of the apartment where the grandmother lived, twisting the interpretation of Article 33.3 of the Constitution, which actually protects property rights.

But why would the property company refuse to let Maricarmen stay in her apartment when James Rhodes pledged to pay the market rate for rent? The incomplete hypothesis may lie in the regulation's protectionism, which makes it almost impossible for vulnerable individuals to rent properties in high-demand cities, as the cost is ultimately borne not by the state but by the landlord.

The pain of Maricarmen is not unique or the most tragic. Both Madrid's community and the city's government have offered alternative housing solutions that may seem reasonable. Thus, the fervor and outspoken nature of Maricarmen's story remains.