MADRID, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Spain's coalition government said it has agreed measures to address the country's housing crisis, as the lawyer of an 87-year-old woman whose eviction last week triggered protests said she was considering 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 leases without abusive rent hikes.
Official sources said the ruling Socialists had reached an agreement with junior partners Sumar on Tuesday for a decree with new measures to curb soaring rental prices, though they face an uphill battle to secure support in a fragmented parliament.
The minority government has 30 days from the decree's publication to reach a consensus with allies in congress. Junts, the Catalan pro-independence party that would need to vote in favour for the decree to pass, said on Tuesday it was still far from this on some measures, such as providing protection for small landlords.
"We all agreed that evictions – where the property is owned by a fund, a vulture fund, run by someone managing millions of euros – obviously need to be stopped," Junts parliamentary spokesperson Miriam Nogueras said on RTVE.
"Lumping together in this category those who have invested their savings in a flat, a restaurant or a property – putting them all in the same basket – is a mistake," she added.
Abascal's lawyer said on Tuesday that UrbaGestion, the fund that owns her apartment, had offered a preliminary agreement late on Monday that could allow her return to her home if she agrees to its terms, which would imply paying 30% of her pension over the next eight years, equivalent to around €500 a month.
This would see her paying a similar level as prior to the eviction.
"She should never have been forced to leave," Beatriz Duro told reporters. "I hope this case serves to provide a collective response to the housing crisis."
While welcoming the company's proposal, Duro criticised UrbaGestion for refusing until recently to negotiate or hold talks. She also accused local, regional and national authorities of failing to respond adequately to Spain's housing problem, particularly evictions that leave vulnerable people without alternative accommodation.
(Reporting by David Latona and Mireia Merino; Writing by Charlie Devereux, Alexandra Hudson)
