Madrid, Sept 27. (dpa/GNA) – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday, to demand the right to housing and protest against evictions.
The demonstration centred on the case of an 87-year-old woman, who was forced from the home where she had lived for 70 years.
Protesters marched under the slogan “Ni una Maricarmen más” (“No more Maricarmens”), in reference to the pensioner, whose case has attracted widespread attention in Spain.
The Interior Ministry put turnout at around 25,000, while organizers from the tenants’ union Sindicato de Inquilinas said as many as 300,000 people took part.
Maricarmen moved into the apartment in Madrid’s Retiro district with her parents in 1956 and later took over the lease.
After the building was sold to a property company, she was told to leave when her long-standing tenancy agreement was terminated.
Following several failed eviction attempts, she was removed from the apartment on Wednesday and later taken to hospital.
“I wasn’t able to defend my home, but I fought so that others learn to fight for theirs,” Maricarmen said in a message distributed by the tenants’ union. “Please, keep fighting,” she told public broadcaster RTVE.
The pensioner has limited mobility and a disability. She said she intended to continue campaigning for the right to housing.
After the march, protesters set up dozens of tents in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, with hundreds preparing to spend the night there.
Demonstrators are calling for stronger protection against evictions, a freeze on rents and reforms to tenancy law.
Similar demonstrations were held in 11 other Spanish cities.
Against the backdrop of the protests, the government is working to approve a new housing decree at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, including measures against evictions.
The decree would take immediate effect, but would need parliamentary approval within 30 days.
The government is still negotiating with several parties to secure the necessary majority.
GNA