Tag: Spain

The 87-year-old pensioner in Spain whose eviction from her lifelong home sparked nationwide protests has died. María del Carmen Abascal, better known as Maricarmen, died on Wednesday just hours before she was set to sign a new rental agreement. She was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment last month on a stretcher after the private investment company that owns the building hiked her rent. After massive public outcry, the landlord had agreed to allow her back into her apartment. Independent Spanish journalist María Carrión says that although Maricarmen’s story galvanized much of the country, evictions like hers are “a daily occurrence” in Spain. “Rents have gone up 80% in the last 10 years, while salaries have not kept up,” Carrión says. “Young people cannot leave their homes. They cannot become independent or start families. And this is what people are trying to change from the street.

Spain has a constitutional right to housing – but it hasn’t stopped rents and property prices from skyrocketing.

The eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal Martín in Madrid, after an investment fund bought her apartment building and more than tripled her rent, has become a symbol of Spain’s rising cost of living and sparked nationwide protests against corporate greed and wealth inequality. Over 600 protesters are now camped outside Madrid’s regional government headquarters demanding new tenant protections. “What we have is a lot of furious people, enraged people, that are demanding from the government and from the public institutions that they give us give us some sort of solution,” says Sabina Carrau, a spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, which is supporting the “Maricarmen decree” named after Abascal, set to be debated by Spain’s government this week. Housing in Spain, as in much of the world, “is really connected to tourism, really connected to having and buying a house to make a speculation,” says socialist parliamentarian Tesh Sidi, who is calling instead for the guaranteed right to housing and “the right to have an affordable life.” Sidi, the only Sahrawi member of the Spanish parliament, also comments on Spain’s colonial relationship to Western Sahara and the state of Sahrawi rights and self-determination.

When movements are at their most powerful, they not only withdraw cooperation from unjust systems, but build the capacity to live without them.

Austria invokes neutrality law to deny U.S. military airspace access as Spain, Switzerland, and others limit cooperation and criticize the legality of the conflict.

Madrid closes airspace and denies military base access, widening tensions with Washington as legal experts cite violations of the UN charter

Nearly 20 House Democrats led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib urge the Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to ensure the safety of the Global Sumud Flotilla, as reported drone attacks, arrests, and blockade enforcement raise legal questions and international scrutiny.

U.S. investigation targets Spain’s alleged blockade of weapons shipments to Israel, exposing geopolitical and ethical tensions.

Their victory reflected a decision by activists to move from occupying the town squares to taking over city halls, and it would have profound consequences for the future of one of Europe’s most prominent metropolitan areas.

The plastic waste used to wrap fruits and vegetables has been opposed by environmental groups both in Spain and abroad.