Maricarmen Abascal could return to Madrid home under proposed eight-year lease

Maricarmen Abascal could return to the Madrid home from which she was evicted last week after her representatives reached a preliminary agreement with its owner. The proposed new lease would cap her rent at 30% of her net income, according to reporting by EL PAÍS. The 87-year-old must still approve and sign the agreement, so her return has not yet been secured.

The deal matters beyond one household: Abascal’s eviction on 23 September prompted protests over housing costs and tenant protections in Spain. Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, told Cadena SER on Tuesday that the plan was for Abascal to go back to the flat after she leaves hospital, provided the agreement is formalised. No discharge or return date has been established.

What the proposed lease would provide

EL PAÍS reported that the proposed lease would run for eight years. Ana de Miguel, chief executive of Madrid’s municipal housing company EMVS, said the rent would be no more than 30% of Abascal’s net income. Its calculation depends on income documents supplied by her representatives, leaving the final monthly payment to be settled under the completed agreement.

Duro said Abascal’s overall housing payment would be close to the roughly €500 she had previously paid, including rent, expenses and community charges, according to EL PAÍS. Associated Press separately reported that the proposed cap would mean no more than €500 a month. Those figures describe the proposal; they are not a confirmed payment under a signed lease.

Abascal was in hospital when the preliminary agreement was reached. Duro said on Tuesday that Abascal still needed to ratify it, Cadena SER reported. The lawyer also said Abascal’s belongings remained in the flat, meaning a return after discharge would not require moving them back. Neither account establishes that Abascal has since signed or moved in.

How the talks began

The mediated meeting followed an unsuccessful proposal from Urbagestión to place the flat in Madrid’s Reviva rental programme. RTVE reported on 25 September that the city rejected that proposal as incompatible with programme rules, including requirements concerning financial charges on a property and direct allocation to a particular tenant. Madrid then offered mediation between the owner and Abascal’s representatives.

The earlier dispute concerned a tenancy that had lasted decades. According to Associated Press, citing the Madrid Tenants’ Union, the flat changed ownership in 2018 and Abascal was offered a chance to buy it but could not afford to do so. The same union said the monthly rent rose from €500 to €2,650 before the owner offered €1,650, still beyond what Abascal could afford on her pension.

RTVE reported Urbagestión’s account of the legal case: the company said a Supreme Court order rejecting Abascal’s appeal and confirming the termination of her rental contract had been final since December 2023. That account is the company’s description of the proceedings, rather than an independently reviewed court record. Abascal was carried from the apartment on 23 September and was later hospitalised, Associated Press reported.

Protests and the wider housing dispute

Duro credited public mobilisation and union action with bringing about the preliminary agreement. In her Cadena SER interview, she also criticised public administrations for failing to resolve Abascal’s situation sooner. Her comments followed protests that made the eviction a prominent example in Spain’s debate over who can afford to remain in a home as housing costs rise.

The Tenants’ Union said its encampment at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol would continue despite the agreement, EL PAÍS reported. Its position reflects a concern that resolving Abascal’s case alone would leave other tenants facing eviction or unaffordable rents. A union spokesperson expressed hope that her case would set a precedent, though the proposed lease itself does not establish any broader change in the law.

The pressure on housing extends beyond this dispute. Spain’s national statistics institute, INE, reported that home prices in the second quarter of 2026 were 12.2% higher than a year earlier and 3.4% above the previous quarter. Prices for existing homes rose 12.9% year on year. Those national purchase-price figures provide context, but they do not determine the rent payable under Abascal’s proposed lease.

For Abascal, the immediate steps remain personal and practical: she must be informed of and approve the terms, the agreement must be formalised, and she must be discharged before the planned return. Duro described a possible route home, not a completed move. The exact payment will depend on the income documentation and final lease, while the timing depends in part on Abascal’s recovery.