Police evicted 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid apartment, where she had lived for 71 years, after repeated court-blocked attempts and protests involving several hundred people. The apartment’s owner, investment firm Urbagestión, raised the rent from €500 to €2,650 under a legal provision before reducing it to €1,650, still above Abascal’s €1,350 monthly pension. An anonymous donor offered to pay most of the rent, but the company reportedly rejected the offer and the eviction proceeded. The case has become a national symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, prompting criticism from the government, tenant groups and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Madrid rents have more than doubled over the past decade, according to Idealista, intensifying pressure on the Socialist-led government to expand tenant protections and address a shortage of affordable homes.