World News by Wild Rose

Maricarmen ⁠Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose ⁠dramatic eviction last month sparked mass ⁠housing protests in Spain that ultimately led to an early election, has died, Madrid’s tenants’ union said on Wednesday, provoking an outpouring of grief and anger on the streets of the capital. Abascal had been in hospital since her eviction on ‌September 23 from her home of more than 70 years, when police and social workers removed her by stretcher. Since then, protests have included activists camping...

Maricarmen ​Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked housing ​protests in Spain, has died, Madrid's tenants' union said on Wednesday. Abascal's eviction sparked a series of ​protests ‌across Spain in the past couple ⁠of weeks, including activists camping on one of Madrid's main ‌squares, and calls for tackling a ⁠mounting housing crisis. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday called an early election for November 29, aiming to increase his parliamentary support after lawmakers last week rejected proposals to address a housing crisis that has drawn nationwide protests. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Javier Carbonell, Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre, explains that Sanchez has chosen "the best moment in a sea of troubles" to call snap elections as he is likely to capitalise on the mobilisation of left-wing voters during the housing protests.

Calling of a snap election was not a knee-jerk reaction from Pedro Sánchez but a carefully thought-out manoeuvre, Guy Hedgecoe reports from Madrid.

Mounting anger over Spain’s housing crisis have led Prime Minister Sanchez to call an early election on November 29

Sánchez says Spain will head to the polls on 29 November after recent defeats on measures aimed at addressing the country's housing crisis.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called ⁠an early election ​for November 29 on Monday, in a bid to strengthen his mandate after a fragmented parliament rejected the government's key housing decrees last week amid widespread protests. France 24's correspondent in Madrid Sarah Morris has the deetails.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced early elections Monday after his government suffered a bruising legislative defeat last week on emergency measures related to the country’s housing crisis. The vote will be held on November 29. In recent weeks, Spaniards have demanded solutions from the government over housing affordability, holding protests in cities across the country after public outrage grew over the televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid last month. Right-wing...

The BBC's Guy Hedgecoe is in Madrid, where a series of marches have been scheduled, after Spain's Congress rejected measures aimed at tackling the country's housing crisis.

More than 50 protests are planned to take place on Saturday after the government failed to get emergency legislation through parliament.

Hundreds of protesters across Spain took part in pot banging demonstrations to demand political action over housing

The government blames 'savage speculation' as critics say new measures leave small landlords 'out in the cold'.

The real estate firm backs down and restores her old rent after mass protests over Spain's housing crisis.

Spain’s housing crisis is deepening as soaring rents and a shortage of homes put affordable housing out of reach.

Spain’s coalition government said it had agreed on proposals including banning evictions until 2030 to address the country’s housing crisis, as the 87-year-old woman whose forced removal last week triggered protests accepted an offer to return home. Hundreds of ‌people remained camped in one of Madrid’s main squares on Tuesday to protest Maricarmen Abascal’s removal from her home on a stretcher last Wednesday. They are demanding legal reforms including a rent freeze and the automatic renewal of...

A Madrid pensioner whose eviction sparked nationwide protests that have piled pressure on the government to resolve Spain's housing crisis can return home after a deal with the property's owners, her lawyer said on Monday. Unaffordable housing has been a running sore for years in Spain, but the outcry over last Wednesday's eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal thrust the crisis to the forefront of the political debate. Demonstrators have set up roughly 100 tents in Madrid's emblematic Puerta del Sol square since Saturday night, while tens of thousands of people have protested across the country.

Protesters angered by Spain's chronic housing crisis and the eviction of a pensioner camped in central Madrid for a third night on Monday, maintaining pressure on the government ahead of a key cabinet meeting. In Barcelona, which has seen several demonstrations in recent years linking housing costs to overtourism, around 2,000 protesters gathered on Monday night to demand ambitious measures during a visit by Sanchez. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid, Spain.

Protesters have set up tent encampments in central Madrid to demand government action on soaring housing costs.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the Spanish capital on Saturday to call for greater protection for tenants. The protest was sparked by the eviction of an elderly woman who was forced out of her lifelong home after her rent nearly quadrupled. Her case has resonated with many Spaniards who say rising rents, partly driven by tourism, are making cities increasingly unaffordable. Morgan Ayre reports.

Thousands of protesters in Madrid demand answers after the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal.

Thousands of people marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest the eviction earlier this week of an 87-year-old woman from her lifelong home, calling for greater protection for tenants. Images of Maricarmen Abascal being carried from her Madrid flat on a stretcher on Wednesday after police broke down her door have thrust Spain’s housing crisis back into the spotlight ahead of a general election due in 2027. Protesters rattled keys, blew whistles, chanted slogans and held banners calling for...

The eviction of an 87-year-old from her Madrid home has highlighted a political paralysis that has thwarted efforts to resolve Spain’s chronic housing crisis, fuelling debate before next year’s election. Maricarmen Abascal’s 70-year stay at her home in upmarket central Madrid ended on Wednesday when she left escorted on a stretcher, flanked by protesters on one side and police on the other – a traumatic event broadcast live on TV. Unable to afford a 275-per cent increase to the monthly rent...

There's the inroads of the far right, but also the broader desire for change. Introducing Berlin's answer to Zohran Mamdani: Elif Eralp, who led the far-left Die Linke party's historic win in Sunday's municipal elections in Berlin. We ask if the 45-year-old daughter of Turkish political exiles can push through her promises of rent freezes and nationalisation of private real estate companies. Just like in New York last year, affordable housing was a hot-button issue. It didn't hurt that her party ran a social media-savvy campaign.