Spain announces new housing measures after protests over 87-year-old woman's eviction
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Alys Davies
Europa Press via Getty Images
Protests have taken place in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga and Cadiz in response to the housing crisis
Spain's coalition government has approved new housing measures following protests over the country's housing crisis, sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home in Madrid last week.
Ministers met on Tuesday to discuss the proposals, which include a potential ban on evictions until 2030, Health Minister Mónica García said.
She said the measures would bring relief to more than five million people - but opposition politician Míriam Nogueras said the agreement left "small landlords out in the cold".
The new housing measures need to be approved in parliament, where the leftist coalition government lacks a majority.
García said other measures agreed upon on Tuesday included the rolling over of contracts until 2028; stricter regulation of short-term and room rentals; and banning the the purchase of housing by investment firms.
"It is time to intervene in the speculative housing market and start striking a balance between ordinary citizens and vulture funds," García said.
Referencing the protests, she added: "Thanks to the mobilisations and the encampments. Without you, this would not have been possible."
But Nogueras, spokeswoman for the pro-Catalan independence party Junts, said: "We all agreed that evictions - where the property is owned by a fund, a vulture fund, run by someone managing millions of euros - obviously need to be stopped."
"Lumping together in this category those who have invested their savings in a flat, a restaurant or a property - putting them all in the same basket - is a mistake," she told Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.
The minority government, which is made up of the ruling Socialists and the junior partners Sumar, has 30 days from the decree's publication to reach an agreement in parliament.
Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez is set to give further details on the measures at a news conference later on Tuesday.
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Ahead of the government's announcement, the lawyer for 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who has become a symbol of Spain's housing crisis, said she would be allowed to return to her home after reaching a deal with the company that owns it on Monday.
Abascal, who was admitted to hospital after being forcibly removed from the apartment on a stretcher, was unable to attend the meeting and is yet to sign the deal.
After her eviction, protesters set up an encampment in Puerto del Sol in the centre of Madrid. It has grown to include hundreds of people.
Protests have also taken place in other cities including Barcelona, Seville, Malaga and Cadiz.
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