Spain Unveils Sweeping Housing Reforms After Outcry Over Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman

Spain's leftist coalition government has approved a package of far-reaching housing measures in direct response to a wave of public anger triggered by the forced eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid apartment last week. The proposals, announced on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting, represent one of the most aggressive interventions in the country's property market in years and signal a dramatic shift in how the government intends to tackle a deepening affordability crisis.

Health Minister Mónica García, speaking after the ministerial gathering, outlined the key elements of the plan. Among the most striking provisions is a proposed moratorium on evictions that would remain in force until 2030. According to García, the measures are designed to bring relief to more than five million people across Spain who are struggling with rising rents, precarious tenancies and the threat of losing their homes.

Beyond the eviction freeze, the package includes the automatic rolling over of rental contracts until 2028, a move intended to give tenants greater security and prevent landlords from forcing them out at the end of short-term agreements. The government also agreed on stricter regulation of short-term holiday lets and room rentals, a sector that critics say has distorted local housing markets and driven up prices in cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga. In addition, the proposals would bar investment firms from purchasing residential housing, a measure aimed squarely at what García described as "vulture funds" operating in the Spanish property market.

"It is time to intervene in the speculative housing market and start striking a balance between ordinary citizens and vulture funds," García told reporters. She directly credited the protest movement that has erupted across the country in recent days, saying: "Thanks to the mobilisations and the encampments. Without you, this would not have been possible."

The announcement follows an incident that has become a powerful symbol of Spain's housing emergency. Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old pensioner, was forcibly removed from her home in Madrid on a stretcher and subsequently admitted to hospital. The image of the frail elderly woman being carried out of her apartment sparked immediate and widespread outrage, galvanising a public already frustrated by years of escalating housing costs. Her case quickly became the focal point of a broader national conversation about the human cost of evictions.

In the days since, protesters have established an encampment in Puerta del Sol, the central square of the Spanish capital. What began as a small gathering has swollen to include hundreds of participants, many of whom remain camped out in the heart of Madrid. Demonstrations have also been staged in cities including Barcelona, Seville, Malaga and Cadiz, underscoring the nationwide scale of the discontent.

The lawyer representing Abascal said on Monday that a deal had been reached with the company that owns her apartment, which would allow her to return home. However, because she was hospitalised after the eviction and was unable to attend the meeting, she has not yet signed the agreement. Her case nonetheless remains potent politically, with her name invoked repeatedly in debates about the treatment of vulnerable tenants.

Not everyone has welcomed the government's proposals. Míriam Nogueras, a spokeswoman for the pro-Catalan independence party Junts, voiced sharp criticism of the package, arguing that it fails to distinguish between large institutional investors and small-scale landlords. "We all agreed that evictions – where the property is owned by a fund, a vulture fund, run by someone managing millions of euros – obviously need to be stopped," she told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. But she warned that lumping together "those who have invested their savings in a flat, a restaurant or a property – putting them all in the same basket – is a mistake." She added that the agreement left "small landlords out in the cold."

The political path ahead for the measures is far from straightforward. Because the minority government, composed of the ruling Socialists and their junior partners Sumar, does not command a majority in parliament, the proposals must secure cross-party support to become law. Under the procedure governing the decree, the government has 30 days from its publication to reach an agreement in the chamber. Failure to do so could see the measures rejected or significantly diluted, leaving the coalition's flagship response to the housing crisis in jeopardy.

Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez is expected to provide further details on the package at a news conference later on Tuesday. Her remarks will be closely watched by tenants' groups, landlords' associations and opposition parties alike, all of whom are seeking clarity on how the new rules would be implemented and enforced.

The scale of the proposed intervention reflects the intensity of Spain's housing crisis. Rental prices have climbed steeply in major urban centres in recent years, fuelled in part by the growth of short-term tourist lettings and by speculative investment. For many younger Spaniards and lower-income households, the prospect of secure, affordable housing has become increasingly remote, a reality that has fed public anger and made housing one of the most politically charged issues in the country.

The eviction of Abascal, whose case has been widely covered in the Spanish media, has crystallised that anger. Her ordeal, combined with the encampments and demonstrations it inspired, has forced the government into a visibly more interventionist stance than it had previously adopted. Whether the coalition can translate its proposals into binding law remains uncertain, but the political pressure that produced them shows little sign of abating.

Should the measures survive parliamentary scrutiny, they would constitute a significant reshaping of Spain's rental market, affecting landlords, tenants, investors and the tourism sector simultaneously. For the millions of Spaniards struggling to keep a roof over their heads, García's promise of relief will be tested in the coming weeks by the hard realities of legislative arithmetic and fierce opposition from property interests.