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

Spain's coalition government has unveiled a package of far-reaching housing measures in response to a wave of public anger triggered by the forced removal of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid apartment last week. The announcement, made after an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, marks one of the most aggressive attempts yet by the minority leftist administration to intervene in the country's increasingly unaffordable property market.

Health Minister Mónica García, speaking after the meeting, said the proposals include a possible moratorium on evictions that would last until 2030. She argued the measures could benefit more than five million people across Spain, framing them as a necessary corrective to years of speculative pressure on the housing sector.

Among the other steps agreed by ministers are the automatic rolling over of rental contracts until 2028, tighter rules governing short-term holiday lets and room rentals, and a ban on property purchases by investment firms. García said the government was determined to act against what she described as a speculative market that has squeezed ordinary households.

"It is time to intervene in the speculative housing market and start striking a balance between ordinary citizens and vulture funds," she said, using language that echoed the slogans of protesters who have filled squares in several Spanish cities in recent days. She also credited the demonstrations directly, saying: "Thanks to the mobilisations and the encampments. Without you, this would not have been possible."

The reforms follow a dramatic episode in Madrid in which Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman, was forcibly removed from her home. She was carried out on a stretcher and subsequently admitted to hospital. Her case quickly became a symbol of a broader housing emergency, drawing attention to the pressures facing elderly and vulnerable tenants as property values and rents climb.

The eviction sparked an encampment in Puerta del Sol, the central square in Madrid, which has since grown to include hundreds of participants. Demonstrations have also been staged in Barcelona, Seville, Malaga and Cadiz, reflecting the geographic spread of discontent over housing costs. The protests have added a potent social dimension to the political debate in Spain, where housing has become one of the most divisive domestic issues.

Ahead of the government's announcement, Abascal's lawyer said she would be permitted to return to her apartment after a deal was reached on Monday with the company that owns the property. Because she was in hospital and unable to attend the meeting, the agreement had not yet been signed. The resolution of her individual case has done little to cool the wider political temperature, however, with activists demanding structural change rather than one-off concessions.

The measures announced on Tuesday are not yet law. They must be approved by Spain's parliament, where the coalition - made up of the ruling Socialists and the junior partner Sumar - does not hold a majority. The minority government has 30 days from the publication of the decree to secure an agreement in the chamber, a timetable that sets up a tense period of negotiation with smaller parties whose support will be essential.

Opposition reaction was swift and mixed. Míriam Nogueras, a spokeswoman for the pro-Catalan independence party Junts, said there was broad agreement that evictions should be halted when the property is owned by a fund or a so-called vulture fund managed by someone overseeing millions of euros. But she criticised the government's approach for failing to distinguish between large institutional investors and individual owners.

"Lumping together in this category those who have invested their savings in a flat, a restaurant or a property - putting them all in the same basket - is a mistake," Nogueras told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. She argued that the agreement left "small landlords out in the cold," a complaint likely to resonate with parts of the electorate who fear the measures could chill private investment in rental housing.

The tension between targeting institutional speculators and protecting small-scale owners is likely to shape the parliamentary battle ahead. While the government's leftist allies have long pushed for stronger tenant protections, centrist and regional parties have warned that overly broad restrictions could reduce the supply of rental homes and worsen the very shortage the measures are meant to address.

Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez is expected to provide further details on the package at a news conference later on Tuesday, where she may clarify how the eviction moratorium would work in practice and what exemptions, if any, would apply. The fine print of the decree will be closely scrutinised by both tenant advocacy groups and property associations.

Spain's housing crisis has deep roots. Since the 2008 financial crash, which devastated the construction sector and left a legacy of foreclosures, successive governments have struggled to reconcile rising demand in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona with limited affordable supply. In recent years, the growth of short-term tourist rentals has further reduced the stock of long-term housing in popular urban centres, pushing rents beyond the reach of many young and low-income residents.

The government's decision to ban purchases by investment firms represents a significant escalation in its interventionist stance. If enacted, it could reshape the ownership landscape in a market where institutional capital has expanded rapidly since the financial crisis, drawn by relatively high yields and steady demand. Supporters say such a move is needed to prevent homes from being treated purely as financial assets, while critics warn it could deter the investment needed to expand housing supply.

The political stakes are considerable. With the coalition dependent on fragile parliamentary arithmetic, the housing package will test its ability to deliver on core social promises. The protests that erupted after Abascal's eviction have given urgency to the debate, but they have also exposed the difficulty of crafting policies that satisfy tenant groups, small landlords, investors and regional parties simultaneously.

For now, the government has succeeded in putting housing at the top of the national agenda and in presenting itself as the defender of ordinary citizens against powerful financial interests. Whether the measures survive parliamentary scrutiny - and whether they meaningfully ease the pressure on Spain's renters and homeowners - will depend on the negotiations of the coming weeks. What is clear is that the eviction of one elderly woman has crystallised a crisis that millions of Spaniards say they feel every day.