In Madrid, a protest against the housing crisis is taking place in Puerta del Sol, with participants staying overnight in a tent camp.
The reason for the action was the high-profile eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from an apartment in the Retiro district after a rent increase.
Participants are calling on the government to enact a package of measures known as the Maricarmen Decree, which includes a ban on evictions without the provision of alternative housing and other measures to regulate rentals.
MADRID, September 28 - RIA Novosti. Hundreds of Spanish residents are staying overnight in a tent camp in the central square of Madrid, Puerta del Sol, as part of a protest against the housing crisis in the country, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the scene.
People sit in groups between the tents, talking, eating, drinking and preparing to spend the night in the square. Representatives of the Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos (Tenants' Union) confirmed to the agency that people continue to come, so the number of participants in the action is constantly changing. According to RIA Novosti estimates, about 350-360 tents were pitched on the square around midnight.
The reason for the protest was the high-profile eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from an apartment in the Retiro district of Madrid. Her family had lived there since 1956, and the pensioner herself, after the death of her parents, continued to rent under the old lease agreement, paying about 500 euros per month.
After the purchase of the apartment by Urbagestion, the owner through the court obtained the termination of the old lease agreement. To stay in the apartment, Marikarmen would have to sign a new contract on more expensive terms. In the Spanish media, at first the amount was 2,650 euros per month, later - 1,650 euros, despite the fact that the woman’s pension is about 1.3 thousand euros.
On September 23, Maricarmen was evicted on the fourth attempt. Hundreds of her supporters gathered near the house, and the woman herself was carried out of the apartment on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. The eviction caused a wide outcry and became one of the symbols of the housing crisis in Spain.
Last Saturday, a mass rally took place in Madrid under the slogan “Not one more Maricarmen”, after which protesters set up camp on Puerta del Sol.
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“We plan to stay in this camp, in the heart of all of Spain, as long as we have enough strength and as long as people continue to come and support us,” protest participant Isabel, 23, a student at the Complutense University of Madrid, told the agency.
Within a day, Puerta del Sol actually turned into a small tent city. Participants organized places for distributing food and water, cleaning the area, making posters and keeping watch. Volunteers brought water, food, fans and hats throughout the day, and the installation of new awnings for protection from the sun was greeted by those gathered with applause. There were so many donations that the organizers at one point asked not to bring any more food.
Among the participants there are many young people aged about 20-30 years old; there are also elderly people and protesters who came from other districts and cities in the square.
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“I work in Madrid, but live in Toledo because I can’t afford to rent a house in the capital. Every day I spend 3 to 4 hours just on the road, because I simply don’t have enough money to rent a simple room here,” David, 26, from Toledo, told the agency.
