She was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment last month on a stretcher after the private investment company that owns the building hiked her rent. After a massive public outcry, the landlord agreed to allow her back into her apartment.
Independent Spanish journalist María Carrión says that although Maricarmen's story galvanized much of the country, evictions like hers are "a daily occurrence" in Spain. "Rents have gone up 80% in the last 10 years, while salaries have not kept up," Carrión says. "Young people cannot leave their homes. They cannot become independent or start families. And this is what people are trying to change from the street."
