The company owning the apartment from which Maricarmen Abascal was evicted submitted an urgent proposal to the City Council of Madrid so that the 87-year-old woman can return home. However, the municipality eventually refused the solution for legal failure.
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25/09/2026
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A Urbagestion, an investment firm that owns the apartment from which Maricarmen Abascal was evicted, presented an “emergency proposal” to the Madrid City Council in Spain, so that the 87-year-old woman can return home. However, it will have been denied.
According to the Spanish news agency Efe, the company proposed that the apartment concerned be placed in the municipal Reviva programme in order to allow the elderly to return to housing with “a stable and affordable housing alternative”.
The Reviva program, managed by the Municipal Housing and Solo Company (EMVS) of the Municipality of Madrid, aims to recover empty houses for the accessible rental market.
In the proposal, which Efe had access to, Urbagestion ensured that the property where Maricarmen lived for more than 70 years “is not for sale at this time” and lamented “the personal situation of Mrs Abascal, as well as the political and improper use of her situation”.
The company also said that “it is at the disposal of the Municipal Housing and Solo Company” so that the proposal can be resolved in the shortest possible time.
According to the proposal, the company does not own the entire building, located in the neighborhood El Retiro, in the center of the Spanish capital, having bought from the previous owner “only the dwelling of Maricarmen Abascal”.
Urbagestion also denied the increase in income reported by the woman from 87 years of age, from 500 to 1,650 euros, and denied having received a proposal to buy housing by the Spanish government.
The lawyer from the Tenants Union, who represented the elderly woman, confirmed that during the negotiations, she asked the company how much would be willing to accept so that Maricarmen could stay home.
“ It was then that they indicated the value of 1,650 euros, something Maricarmen could not bear”, said the lawyer ", explained Beatriz Duro to the newspaper El País.
Chamber of Madrid denies proposal: “Not meeting legal requirements”
The Municipal Housing and Solo Company of the Municipality of Madrid did not accept Urbagestion’s proposal, claiming that “it does not meet the legal requirements”.
“ It was found that the solution is not feasible under the proposed terms, since the inclusion of the property in the ReViVa Program does not meet the legal requirements stipulated in the program guidelines, nor in other housing acquisition programs ", said EMVS, cited by Spanish television laSexta.
However, the municipal company decided to offer the Maricarmen representatives their Rent Mediation Service and scheduled a meeting between the actors next Monday, September 28.
Maricarmen was also provided with a teleassistance service, home support, occupational therapy and alternative accommodation at a non-cost municipal residence.
Income went from 500 to 1,650€
Maricarmen was evicted from the house where she lived for 70 years, after an investment firm had acquired the property and increased the rent from 500 to 1,650 euros. The case generated protests, and there were even those who offered to pay their rent for as long as necessary.
Maricarmen's father rented the property in 1956 and, after his parents died, the woman continued to live in the apartment during the period when the income value was limited by law.
At the time, the lease was signed under the old rent control laws. With the approval of the Urban Rent Act of 1994, the legal framework for these leases has changed radically.
Maricarmen took over the property contract 20 years ago and has since served religiously with the payment of income, which has been increasing based on the value of inflation.
However, the situation changed in 2018, when the building was purchased by an investment firm. The new owners began a legal process, claiming a gap in the subrogation of the contract, which they considered to be “economically unsustainable”.
The case reached the courts and the Spanish Supreme Court ruled in favor of the company, which tried to increase the income by 275%.
Maricarmen, a retired elderly woman with 50% capacity, failed to pay the requested amount and in recent months hundreds of neighbors, social groups and platforms for defending the right to housing have mobilized in support, organizing camps and protests to prevent the eviction ordered by justice.