MADRID, Sept 28 (Reuters) – Protesters on Monday began a third day camped outside the administration of the Madrid region to object to the eviction of an octogenarian and demand stronger protection for tenants in the face of a lack of housing and soaring rents.
Protests boiled over last week after police evicted 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal on a stretcher from her Madrid home of more than seven decades because of an eviction order secured by the investment fund that bought her apartment.
Hundreds of people outside the block clashed with police, while the leftist central government condemned the centre-right regional administration that had failed to prevent the eviction.
By Monday, hundreds of tents filled the central Puerta del Sol square, echoing the protests of 2011 when it was occupied for a month by activists demonstrating against austerity measures adopted during the global financial crisis.
TENS OF THOUSANDS MARCH THROUGH MADRID
On Saturday, some 30,000 people marched through Madrid to object to the treatment of Maricarmen and others forced from their homes by investment funds.
Marchers shook keys and bore banners with slogans including “Speculators go home” and “Housing is for living”.
As night fell on Puerta del Sol, home to the office of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, centre-right president of the Madrid region, dozens of activists put up tents, and their number has steadily grown since.
Blanca, a student, said young Spaniards were struggling to move out of their parents’ homes.
“Politicians not only do nothing but make it worse,” she said. “We’ve decided to put our foot down, so let’s hope they hear us.”
Further protests were set to take place across Spain on Monday, according to the Tenants’ Union, which has been co-ordinating the protests.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday said the government was working to enact a decree on housing in parliament by Tuesday that would bring immediate relief for tenants.
Rents have on average doubled over the past decade, far outpacing salary growth.
Spain has a deficit of 750,000 homes, according to the central bank. Only about 120,000 are built each year, a sixth of the level before the 2008 financial crisis.
Ayuso on Friday blamed Sanchez’s government for failing to address the housing issue in its eight years in power.
(Reporting by Guillermo Martinez and Susana Vera; writing by Aislinn Laing; editing by Charlie Devereux and Kevin Liffey)
