Police Clash With Protesters as 87-Year-Old Disabled Woman Evicted From Madrid Home of 71 Years

Violent scenes broke out in Madrid on Wednesday as riot police clashed with protesters attempting to prevent the eviction of an 87-year-old disabled woman from the apartment in the city's Retiro district where she had lived for 71 years.

Hundreds of demonstrators, many of whom had gathered overnight, sought to block what was reported to be the fourth attempt to carry out the eviction of the woman, identified as Maricarmen. Police used teargas to disperse the crowd as the eviction proceeded, according to accounts from the scene.

The apartment had reportedly been purchased by a property developer, a common pattern in disputes that have fueled housing rights activism in Madrid and other major Spanish cities in recent years, as rising rents and property investment have squeezed longtime residents, particularly elderly and lower-income tenants, out of central neighborhoods.

Housing rights campaigners, including activists from groups based in both the Madrid and Barcelona regions, condemned the landlord's actions, describing the treatment of the elderly, disabled tenant as "barbaric." The case has drawn renewed attention to Spain's broader housing affordability crisis, which has prompted repeated protests and, in some cities, government efforts to regulate rents and limit evictions.

It was not immediately clear where the woman would be relocated following the eviction. Spanish housing rights groups have called for stronger legal protections for elderly and vulnerable tenants facing eviction, arguing that current safeguards are insufficient given the scale of the country's housing pressures.