The eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal has fuelled protests over rising rents and housing shortages.
Tenant groups accuse “vulture funds” of property speculation and steep rent hikes.
Housing shortages and divisions over rent controls dominate debate ahead of Spain’s November 29 election.
Spain’s housing crisis has become a battleground over who gets to live in the country’s increasingly expensive cities, with protesters accusing investment funds and landlords of putting profits before people.
The anger intensified after the death of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal, whose eviction from her Madrid home in September became a rallying point for tenants demanding stronger protections.
Thousands marched through Madrid on Thursday, October 8, to honour Abascal and renew calls for action on rising rents, housing shortages and evictions.
At the centre of the protests is the term “vulture funds”, used by tenant groups to describe corporate investors they accuse of buying properties or distressed mortgage portfolios and seeking higher returns by raising rents or removing tenants. Protesters say such practices make housing less affordable and leave renters vulnerable to eviction.
The term is contested, however, and does not describe every institutional property investor. Economists have warned that restricting private investment too aggressively could also discourage construction and worsen the shortage of homes.
How Abascal’s Eviction Became A National Flashpoint
Abascal had lived in her Madrid home for more than 70 years before an investment fund bought the building and pursued rent increases she could not afford on her pension.
She was evicted on September 23 after a lengthy legal battle and was later hospitalised with anxiety and exhaustion. Although an agreement was reached for her to return home, she died on October 7, before she could do so. No cause of death had been announced.
Her case has become a symbol of a wider affordability crisis. Spain faces a housing deficit estimated at 750,000 homes, which could reach one million by 2028, according to Reuters’ reporting on the crisis.
House prices have risen faster than wages, while more than half of Spaniards aged 18 to 34 live with their parents or depend on them financially. The country’s social housing stock stands at just 1.7 per cent, among the lowest shares in the European Union.
Government Plans Face Political And Economic Hurdles
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government has proposed measures including restrictions on speculative property purchases, rent protections and incentives to expand affordable housing.
However, parliament rejected earlier emergency housing measures, deepening the political dispute over how to tackle the crisis. Sánchez has since called a snap election for November 29, putting housing policy at the centre of the campaign.
The debate exposes a difficult trade-off: tenants want protection from unaffordable rents and eviction, while critics of strict controls warn that deterring investment could constrain the supply of new homes.
For protesters, however, the immediate concern is whether ordinary people can continue living in the places where they work and have built their lives.
The dispute over “vulture funds” has therefore become part of a larger argument about whether housing should be treated primarily as an investment or as a basic social need.
