General
Police Use Tear Gas During Protest Against Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman in Madrid
Spanish police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators protesting the eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman who had lived in her Madrid apartment for over seventy years. The eviction followed a court ruling that allowed an investment fund, which purchased the property in 2018, to enforce a rent increase from 500 to 1,650 euros monthly, which Maricarmen could not afford with her pension. Social workers transported the weakened woman in a wheelchair to an ambulance, where she was examined at a hospital. Her lawyer described the police action as disproportionate, while Housing Minister Rodríguez criticized the move as a symptom of unchecked speculation. Demonstrators, including celebrities and tenant union activists, highlighted the contrast between Maricarmen's plight and the controversial purchase of a luxury penthouse for Isabel Ayuso, president of the Madrid region.
Ozetta summarises; the reporting is the newsroom's