Police use teargas on protesters as disabled woman, 87, evicted from Madrid home

There were violent scenes in Madrid on Wednesday as riot police fought with protesters trying to prevent the eviction of a disabled 87-year-old woman from her apartment in the El Retiro district of the city.

Hundreds of protesters had gathered, many of them overnight, in an effort to block the fourth attempt to carry out the eviction. Activists from the Madrid and Barcelona tenants’ union, and celebrities including the actor Carlos Bardem and the singer and actor Ana Belén, also joined the protest.

Police fired rounds of teargas and repeatedly baton-charged the protesters as they tried to open a path for the judicial committee to carry out the eviction order, which was eventually executed on Wednesday morning.

The tenant, known simply by her first name Maricarmen, has 50% disability and is about to turn 88.

Demonstrators chanted “Ayuso’s attic for Maricarmen”, a reference to the scandal surrounding the Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s alleged purchase with public money of a €6.3m residential apartment for her use as a temporary office.

Behind the locked door, more protesters occupied the staircase leading to Maricarmen’s flat while neighbours handed out snacks and offered the demonstrators the use of their bathroom.

When a developer bought the building Maricarmen had lived in for 71 years, she was offered the chance to buy her apartment for €247,000 (£212,000), an impossible sum for a pensioner.

They then raised her rent from €500 to €1,650 a month, while she receives a state pension of €1,350. An unnamed “prominent” writer offered to pay the €1,150 difference indefinitely but their offer was ignored.

In a video recorded this morning by the local tenants’ union, a tearful Maricarmen said: “Good morning, everyone, I thank you for the action you are taking, spending the whole night sleeping in the street. Please, keep going, but don’t hurt one another. This has to be peaceful.

“I can still hear all your noise. A hug to everyone and to all the people who are supporting me in this cruel struggle against a person who wants to make money but who should not forget that they have parents and that one day they could find themselves in the situation that, unfortunately, I am in.”

The original 1956 contract for the flat was in Maricarmen’s father’s name; when he died, the apartment passed to his wife, and on her death in 2008 was then sublet to Maricarmen. The landlords, Urbagestión SL, successfully argued in the supreme court that this subletting was invalid and that the contract was no longer valid. Urbagestión SL has been approached for comment.

Speaking at the scene, Aldo Reverte, spokesperson for the Confederation of Tenants’ Unions, said: “Maricarmen’s case is just one more example of what happens when housing is put in the hands of landlords. The difference is that a lot of people have become aware of her situation and the tenants’ union has shown that we can fight this type of barbaric behaviour.”

However, for all their efforts, the protesters were unable to stop the eviction. Beatriz Duro, the lawyer representing Maricarmen, said: “The owner isn’t prepared to negotiate or accept any sort of offer. We have asked for a place where we can take Maricarmen’s personal belongings.”

So far this year, 4,000 evictions have been carried out in Spain.