The Broken Promise of a Home in Spain

The death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal in a Madrid hospital has deeply affected a nation that has long suspected the aspiration of dying at home is a thing of the past. On September 23, Maricarmen was forcibly removed from her apartment in the Ibiza neighborhood near El Retiro park and Madrid's city center while hundreds of neighbors and activists tried to prevent her eviction.

Her removal came after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government approved two decrees to halt evictions of vulnerable people, but they were ultimately rejected by Congress, the lower house of Spain's parliament. The opposition came from right-wing and far-right parties, including the Catalan pro-independence party Junts, whose support had helped Sánchez take office in 2023.

This political crisis over housing has led Prime Minister Sánchez to dissolve the parliament and call for a general election on November 29. Spain's housing crisis, while not the sole reason for the government's downfall, has brought to light the growing inequality and power dynamics surrounding homeownership. Maricarmen, who had lived in the same apartment since the mid-1950s, was unable to afford the exorbitant rent demanded by the new owners despite her substantial pension.

This situation is reflective of a broader issue in Spain where housing costs consume a significant portion of people's wages, leaving them vulnerable to financial instability. The nation's strong economy masks this underlying issue, but one in four people still remains at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This housing crisis has exposed the political failure to protect citizens' basic needs and has triggered a wave of public protests demanding change.