Gonzalo Bernardos criticizes the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid

The economist Gonzalo Bernardos has criticized the eviction of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman who this week had to leave the Madrid home where she had lived for seven decades, and has assured that her case shows that "the welfare state in Spain is failed."

Bernardos spoke about the case during his intervention in El Objective, on LaSexta, where he defended that public administrations should have acted to prevent a person of that age and in a vulnerable situation from losing their home.

"It cannot happen that an 87-year-old person who is sick is evicted," said the economist. In his opinion, if a person encounters financial difficulties in paying for their home, the public sector must intervene: "The public administration, which is why we pay taxes, must resort to helping them."

Maricarmen's eviction was carried out this Wednesday after 71 years residing in the property, which she left on a stretcher and accompanied by Samur health workers. Outside the building, hundreds of people gathered outside to try to prevent the launch.

During his speech, Bernardos wanted to differentiate between the actions of this real estate company, Urba Gestión, and that of a previous owner. "In the case of Maricarmen there are two types of owners and they are very different," he noted.

The economist has been harsh with Urba Gestión, which he has reproached for the economic conditions posed to the elderly woman. "He wants to charge her more than 2,500 euros and it seems to me that it is a real shame," he lamented, appealing to the woman's personal situation.

"Knowing how old he is, knowing his conditions, you have to be human," Bernardos insisted. In this sense, he has considered that maintaining more favorable conditions for a small number of people in similar circumstances would not cause significant harm to the company: "By putting up with one, two, three or four people in this circumstance, nothing would happen to Urba Gestión."

Bernardos has contrasted this action with that of the previous owner of the home. According to him, once the conditions of the family contract to which Maricarmen had subrogated had been exhausted, this owner maintained the rental price for years without applying an increase.