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The dramatic eviction of an 87-year-old woman from the home in Madrid where she lived for seven decades has drawn attention to the depth of Spain’s housing crisis.<\/b><\/p>\n
The tenant of the flat in the Retiro area of central Madrid, Maricarmen, was unable to pay the rent set by the investment firm that owns it.<\/p>\n
Maricarmen’s father first rented the property in 1956 and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a cap on the rent. <\/p>\n
However, the company that bought the property in 2018, Urbagesti\u00f3n, cited a legal glitch allowing it to raise her rent from \u20ac500 (\u00a3428; $572) to \u20ac2,650.<\/p>\n
It subsequently lowered the new rent to \u20ac1,650 but Maricarmen was still unable to pay it with her monthly pension of \u20ac1,350.<\/p>\n
Three previous attempts to evict her were blocked by the courts and the case has received increasing media attention. <\/p>\n
Supporters of Maricarmen camped outside the building on Tuesday night, joined by celebrities including Javier Bardem’s brother, Carlos, and the singer Ana Bel\u00e9n, who read out the poem Desahucio<\/i> (Eviction) by Rafael Alberti.<\/p>\n
Several hundred people, mostly youngsters, had gathered by the morning in a bid to prevent the eviction from taking place, chanting “Maricarmen stays”. Some activists blocked the stairs inside the building.<\/p>\n
In a video posted on social media, a tearful Maricarmen thanked those who had come out to support her against “this cruel struggle by someone who wants to earn money”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n