Madrid City Council rejects Urbagestión's offer for Maricarmen Abascal to return to her home and offers to mediate
The Madrid city council summons the representatives of the woman, 87 years old, and the owners of the property to a meeting on Monday
BarcelonaOn Wednesday, Maricarmen Abascal was forced to leave what had been her home for more than seventy years. She left on an emergency stretcher, unable to collect her belongings and exhausted, with high levels of anxiety after having experienced four eviction attempts at the age of 87. Social movements have turned the case of this woman from Madrid into a symbol of the serious housing problem affecting Spain. The Ombudsman has also stated that her story illustrates the shortcomings in the protection of vulnerable people against residential eviction, especially in large cities. This Friday, Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión SL, the fund that owns the property, presented a proposal to the Madrid City Council so that she could return to her apartment. The proposal, however, was rejected by the Madrid city council because "it does not meet the legal requirements" and it has offered to mediate.
Urbagestión, according to a statement reported by El Economista, the fund sought to coordinate with the city council of the Spanish capital and the rest of the administrations to find a solution that would allow the woman to return home with "a stable and affordable residential alternative" within the framework of a municipal program. On one hand, it has made itself available to the Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS) of Madrid and the municipal social services so that the proposal can be resolved in "the shortest possible time." On the other hand, the Madrid Tenants' Union has stated that neither the organization nor the woman's lawyer has received any information about the proposal announced by Urbagestión.
However, the Madrid City Council considers that including the home in housing purchase programs does not meet the legal requirements of these projects. In a statement, the council offers mediation to Maricarmen Abascal and has summoned her representatives to a meeting for this coming Monday at four in the afternoon with the owners of the property and the mediation of the municipal company of Madrid.
Before the company's announcement, Maricarmen Abascal spoke from the hospital. "I did not manage to defend my home, but I have fought so that others learn to fight for theirs," she stated from her room at the Gregorio Marañón, the center where she was taken by ambulance on the day of the eviction. In a video published by the union on social media, the woman wanted to thank the support received before, during, and after the eviction: "They haven't left me alone for a second. I am their family and they are mine," she said, visibly moved, about the union activists and other young people who defended her –whom she refers to as "kids"–, and her lawyer.
"My home has been my life and now I have to leave it behind, but that does not mean that I will not continue fighting. We could not save my home, but please, continue fighting", continued Maricarmen Abascal. The 87-year-old woman has asked that "the problem with vulture funds be eliminated once and for all" and has reminded that a demonstration has been called this Saturday at the Puerta del Sol so that "there are no more cases" like hers.
Investigation into police action
Furthermore, this Friday, the Spanish government delegation in Madrid ordered the Chief of the National Police of Madrid, Javier Galván, to investigate the police action during the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, given the "images that were not pleasing" of the response by some officers to the protesters.
This was announced by delegate Francisco Martín in an interview with Servimedia, in which he made it clear that the "vast majority" of the people who gathered in front of Maricarmen's home did so peacefully. While he acknowledged that there were "moments of tension" in which some "agitated" activists attacked the security forces, who had to respond, he added: "We have also been able to see images that we did not like in relation to some responses by some police officers."
More than 200 officers participated in the eviction operation of the octogenarian on Alcalde Sainz de Baranda street, in the Retiro district. The National Police issued 209 sanction proposal reports under the citizen security law, but no arrests were made.