Spanish riot police forcibly evicted an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascal, from her Madrid apartment on Wednesday after an investment firm sought to increase her rent by 275 per cent. The court-ordered eviction prompted police to breach a furniture barricade erected by supporters, and violent clashes erupted between demonstrators and officers outside the building in the Retiro district.

Maricarmen had occupied the flat for 70 years, paying approximately €440 monthly under an original tenancy agreement. The investment firm Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión SL, run by brothers Ricardo Alonso Fernández and Fernando Alonso Fuentes, purchased the apartment in 2018 for around €240,000 and proposed raising the monthly rent to €1,650. Following a legal battle that reached Spain's Supreme Court—which ruled in favour of the firm—police executed the eviction, giving the pensioner 30 minutes to collect her belongings before transporting her to hospital. Amnesty International Spain subsequently criticised the eviction as a violation of human rights, whilst the Madrid renters' union described it as reflective of broader housing speculation issues.