MADRID, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Protesters camped outside the Madrid regional government's headquarters for a third day on Monday to object to the eviction of an octogenarian and demand stronger protection for tenants in the face of a housing shortage and soaring rents.
Protests boiled over last week after police evicted 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal on a stretcher from her Madrid home of more than seven decades because of an eviction order secured by the investment fund that bought her apartment.
Hundreds
of people outside her building clashed with police, while the Socialist-led central government condemned the centre-right regional administration for not preventing the eviction.
By Monday, hundreds of tents filled the central Puerta del Sol square, echoing the protests of 2011 when it was occupied for a month by activists demonstrating against austerity measures adopted during the global financial crisis.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Sunday the government was working to enact a housing decree in parliament by Tuesday that would bring immediate relief for tenants.
Unlike in the financial crisis, when many evictions were linked to mortgage defaults after a property bubble burst, a growing share are now related to rent disputes, reflecting a shortage of properties. Rents have on average doubled over the past decade, far outpacing salaries.
TENS OF THOUSANDS MARCH THROUGH MADRID
On Saturday, some 30,000 people marched through Madrid to object to the treatment of Abascal and others forced from their homes by investment funds.
Marchers shook keys and bore banners with slogans including "Speculators go home" and "Housing is for living".
As night fell on Puerta del Sol, home to the office of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, centre-right president of the Madrid region, dozens of activists put up tents, and their number has steadily grown since.
Blanca, a student, said young Spaniards were struggling to move out of their parents' homes.
"Politicians not only do nothing but make it worse," she said. "We've decided to put our foot down, so let’s hope they hear us."
Further protests were set to take place across Spain on Monday, according to the Tenants' Union, which has been co-ordinating the protests.
From her hospital bed in Madrid, Abascal said she could not join the demonstration and urged protesters to keep fighting.
"Be brave, fight, defend what is yours and, please, take care of yourselves; keep camping there for as long as your bodies can hold out and as long as you wish to. Let’s hope all this comes to a successful conclusion tomorrow," she said in a video distributed by the Tenants' Union.
Spain has a deficit of 750,000 homes, according to the central bank, which has said that figure could rise to over 1 million by 2028. Only about 120,000 are built each year, a sixth of the rate before the 2008 financial crisis.
Ayuso said the protests were an attempt to "change the rules of the game" on existing contracts and asked whether the activists thought there should be age limit for paying rent.
(Reporting by Guillermo Martinez and Susana Vera; additional reporting by Jesus Aguado; writing by Aislinn Laing; editing by Charlie Devereux and Kevin Liffey)
