The case of Maricarmen Abascal is the talk of the whole of Spain. The 87-year-old was evicted last Wednesday from her flat in Madrid, where she had been living as a tenant since 1956. It was only thanks to an agreement with the property management company that she was able to return. This followed city-wide unrest that caused a stir across the country. Tenancy disputes have also caused controversy in the Canary Islands over the past year. Eight out of ten evictions in the Canary Islands recently stemmed from similar cases.
Of the 1,426 evictions enforced by the islands‘ courts last year, 1,129 were the result of proceedings under tenancy law. This represented 79.2 per cent and amounted to more than three cases per day. The remaining evictions comprised 224 mortgage foreclosures and 73 cases for other reasons.
The High Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) counts one eviction per property as soon as a court orders the forced opening of a home. Overall, the figure has fallen compared with 2024, when the courts enforced 1,732 evictions. However, the proportion of tenancy cases rose over the same period from 75.2 per cent in 2024 to 79.2 per cent. And, just as in Madrid, some of the current cases involve particularly difficult individual circumstances:
Tenerife: Seriously ill person temporarily avoids third eviction attempt
In the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the courts enforced 570 evictions, including 439 relating to tenancy agreements and 103 relating to mortgages. So far this year, the downward trend has not continued. In the first quarter, there were 56 rental evictions in the province. This was equivalent to the figure for the last three months of 2025.
Behind such figures lie cases similar to that of Maricarmen Abascal: in Granadilla de Abona lives a 54-year-old woman with terminal cancer. The eviction from her flat was scheduled for last Friday. It was already the third attempt at eviction. However, following intervention by the local council and the Canary Islands Housing Institute, the authorities have provisionally suspended the date.
According to the Tenerife Tenants‘ Union, the woman in question was unable to find alternative accommodation. The reason: as she was seriously ill, she was unable to provide either a payslip or an employment contract. More than 200 neighbours and friends gathered outside the Regional Government Office in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Thursday to protest against the case. The organisers regarded the intervention as a preliminary success. They also announced further protests should the eviction be rescheduled.
Spain passes two decrees against evictions
Meanwhile, the Spanish government has also responded: on Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved two housing decrees extending protection against evictions until 2030 and extending current tenancy agreements due to expire before the end of 2028 by two years. The two decrees also regulate seasonal and room rentals and prohibit, until 2028, the purchase of properties by so-called ‚vulture funds‘. These are investment or hedge funds that buy up properties from nearly bankrupt debtors at low prices in order to later claim the full nominal value – through the courts if necessary. Spain has also introduced an automatic contract extension in light of the case of Maricarmen Abascal. Tenants‘ organisations have been calling for this measure for a long time.
However, the move has also attracted criticism. For example, the tenants‘ union, Sindicato de Inquilinas, is unhappy about the «splitting» of the legislation into two separate bills and has announced nationwide demonstrations for 3 and 4 October. Meanwhile, the government has asked the Chamber of Deputies to hold an extraordinary plenary session on Friday. Both decrees are due to be ratified there. Without this approval, they would lapse.
The extension and automatic renewal primarily protect people whose tenancy agreements are due to expire. According to the Supreme Judicial Council, the majority of evictions recorded by it are due to non-payment of rent. The cost of living has recently risen significantly in Spain, as in many other EU countries.
The Canary Islands aim to help tenants in financial difficulty
In the Canary Islands, such cases are handled through the «Canarias ProHogar» programme run by the Canary Islands Housing Institute. Last year, 671 applications were received, 320 of which were in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This was confirmed by the Ministry responsible for housing, amongst other things, in response to an enquiry.
Referring to the case in Madrid last week, Fernando Clavijo, President of the Canary Islands, said that the system had failed. The politician called on the state to establish a legal framework to protect people in similar situations. He added that the Canary Islands alone were not in a position to put a stop to evictions.
Areas with a tight housing market have not yet been designated on the islands, although the law allows for this.
95,000 small-scale landlords in the Canary Islands
The islands have around 95,000 small-scale landlords listed in their housing register who let a property as a main residence to private individuals or families. This is evident from the tax authority’s latest statistics on income tax returns. The Bank of Spain estimates that private individuals account for around 90 per cent of the residential rental market. However, only a few exceptions own multiple properties: almost 99 per cent of private landlords own fewer than six flats, whilst 76 per cent own just a single rented flat. In most cases, these have been inherited or purchased as part of retirement planning.
The Land Registry records 991,301 residential properties in the Canary Islands. Of these, only 74,632 are registered to private individuals. At the other end of the scale are companies owning dozens of properties. Twenty-four per cent of these own more than 100 properties. In the Canary Islands, 87 taxable companies own a total of 37,067 flats, an average of 426 flats per owner.
Tías Lanzarote stands out most in this respect: just under 3,900 of the municipality’s approximately 14,300 residential properties are owned by private legal entities, representing 27.3 per cent. This is followed by La Oliva with 18.3 per cent, Yaiza with 16.8 per cent, Mogán with 16.3 per cent and Arona with 15.2 per cent.
The identities of the major property owners remain largely unknown. A year ago, the PSOE tabled a motion in the Canary Islands Parliament for a law that would introduce a register of individuals and legal entities owning multiple properties. However, the governing parties rejected the motion by a majority.
«Eviction proceedings: plans to protect Canary Islands tenants»
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