Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Spanish pensioner forcibly evicted from her Madrid flat on 23 September after living there for 70 years, is now expected to return home following a new rental agreement with the property owners. Both sides reached a "goodwill" agreement under which she will pay a similar rent to her previous €440 monthly rate, avoiding the proposed €1,650 increase that sparked her eviction and triggered tens of thousands of protesters across Spain. Her lawyer called the deal the "result of the social mobilisation", representing a significant victory for tenant rights advocates amid Spain's acute housing crisis.

Abascal's rent had been protected under an old tenancy agreement until the flat was purchased in 2018 by investment brothers Ricardo Alonso Fernández and Fernando Alonso Fuentes, who subsequently proposed the 275 per cent increase—far exceeding her monthly pension of €1,350. Her court-ordered eviction on 23 September, carried out by riot police whilst supporters barricaded her flat with furniture, had been backed by Spain's Supreme Court but sparked nationwide outcry. The Bank of Spain estimates the country faces a shortage of 700,000 homes, fuelling public anger over rising rents and weak tenant protections that prompted government promises of relief measures.