MADRID: Landlady Maria Jose Fernandez feels unfairly portrayed as a property speculator amid the tensions over Spain's housing crisis, just weeks before a snap nationwide election.
The housing debate intensified after 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted in September from her lifelong home and died a few days later, sparking nationwide protests.
Fernandez, a 65-year-old retiree, said the problems faced by property owners like her were being overlooked and feared government proposals to strengthen tenants' rights would make matters worse.
A couple renting her roughly 50-square-metre (540-square-foot) apartment in Cercedilla, a mountain town near Madrid, stopped paying the monthly rent of 710 euros (US$800) in 2024.
