I Pay $500 for 5 Square Metres’: Spain’s Protesters, in Their Own Words

Maricarmen Abascal died in hospital on the same day property owners agreed to let her return after her eviction from her Madrid flat of seven decades due to a rent hike by her corporate landlord.

Public anger followed weeks of demonstrations against Spain’s acute housing crisis involving the forcible eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal.

Right-wing parties defeated two emergency decrees that the government presented to parliament to protect vulnerable renters. The Bank of Spain said the country faces a shortage of 750,000 homes, which could rise to 1 million next year.

Haris Javaid Sharif, a 24-year-old data analyst in Barcelona, earns $1,900 net per month and shares a 44-square-metre flat with his parents and siblings. Protesters in Barcelona and Madrid described steep housing costs that keep them living with family or sharing small spaces.

The family pays $745 in rent. Average three-bedroom rents in the city range from $954 to $1,684.

Bea Garcia de la Torre, 32, shares a 70-square-metre flat in Madrid with her brother, paying $1,229 per month on a $2,400 salary. She said landlords attempt to pass central heating costs onto tenants and expressed fears of sudden rent hikes or eviction.

Iratxe Gonzalez earns $1,200 per month and pays $400 for a 45-square-metre room in a shared apartment. The 27-year-old social worker in Madrid holds only a one-year short-term contract.

Ignacio Redrado, a 32-year-old teacher in Madrid, earns $2,245 and pays $337 in rent while sharing a 60-square-metre flat with four others who pay a total of $1,067 monthly. He said the average age for leaving home in Spain is 30 years old.

Arturo Leon, 24, who works with an NGO in Barcelona, lives in a flat with four others where his bedroom measures two metres by 2.6 metres. He reported paying $506 per month without a formal contract while facing landlord threats of rent increases and refused repairs.