Madrid City Council has offered the legal representatives of Maricarmen Abascal the Rental Mediation Service (SIA) of EMVS after rejecting Urbagestión's proposal due to "legal infeasibility". The meeting will take place on Monday, September 28 at 16:00 hours.
The Madrid City Council will mediate between the legal representatives of Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman evicted this week from her home in the Retiro district, and the company Urbagestión, the owner of the property, to seek a housing solution. This has been confirmed by the Municipal Housing and Land Company of Madrid (EMVS Madrid) as reported by 20minutos.
The company presented a proposal on Friday for the woman to continue living in the property under "affordable and decent living conditions", which involved incorporating the property into the ReViVa plan of the City Council. This program recovers empty homes, refurbishes them, and rents them out without the owner losing ownership.
The City Council rejected the initiative due to the "infeasibility of the proposal as presented". According to EMVS, the solution "does not meet the legal requirements set out in the bases of that program nor in other housing purchase initiatives". However, Urbagestión expressed its willingness to consider another alternative that the City Council or other administrations deem viable.
In light of this situation, the City Council has offered Maricarmen's representatives the Rental Mediation Service (SIA) of EMVS. The representatives have agreed to participate in a meeting next Monday, September 28 at 16:00 hours with the property owners and with the mediation of professionals from the municipal company.
Among the advantages that the SIA offers to tenants is the search for housing suitable for their economic conditions, ensuring that the effort to pay rent does not exceed 40% of their net income, the guarantee of compliance with contracts, and a direct relationship with EMVS.
Urbagestión clarified in the same statement that it does not own the entire building on Alcalde Sainz de Baranda, but only the home occupied by Maricarmen, the only property it owns. The company stated that the court ruling confirming the termination of the lease was final since December 2023 and maintained that during this period it sought to reach an agreed solution. According to their account, they proposed a new lease with a rent between 40% and 50% lower than the market price.
EMVS insists that this mediation proposal follows the line of support that the council has provided to Maricarmen since her situation became known. Through its Social Services, the City Council has provided her with teleassistance, home help, occupational therapy, and the offer of alternative accommodation in a municipal residence at no cost.
The announcement from the City Council precedes a demonstration called by the Tenants' Union for this Saturday at Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Among the measures they will propose is to "freeze all current rents" and the "automatic renewal of contracts" so that landlords cannot evict a tenant simply because their contract has ended.
We need this to change forever, that Maricarmen represents a before and after
The union spokesperson, Valeria Racu, criticized the company's "cynicism" for providing a solution after allowing "the use of all possible police violence to remove those who are trying to defend the right to housing from Maricarmen's home". Racu expressed her determination to ensure that Maricarmen returns to her home and called to "wrest any victory" from this company and "to make their business go to hell".
The meeting on Monday at 16:00 hours will be the first encounter between the parties with municipal mediation to try to reach a housing solution for the woman.
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