Almeida backs the solution obtained against Maricarmen's eviction: he vindicates the mediation of EMVS Madrid and the action of the Madrid City Council

The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has defended this agreement as the “solution” promoted by the Madrid City Council against the “uproar” that, in his opinion, others prefer, in a message also addressed to the Government of Pedro Sánchez. The understanding, reached after more than four hours of meeting mediated by professionals from the Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS Madrid), will allow the future return to the home of Maricarmen Abascal, still pending validation by the affected party herself, who is currently admitted to the Gregorio Marañón Hospital.

From the Palacio de Cibeles, José Luis Martínez-Almeida has stressed that it is good that “there is always an agreement” and has highlighted the willingness shown by both Urbagestión and the representatives of Maricarmen Abascal. As he explained, both parties “knew they had to give in” and the City Council intervened because “the property asks for it,” with the aim of being “in the solution and not in the uproar.”

A new eight-year rental contract

The pact includes a new eight-year rental contract and a rent that will not exceed 30% of Maricarmen Abascal's net income. The mayor reiterated that the mediation of EMVS Madrid has been decisive in closing a new settlement contract that, he affirmed, guarantees legal security to the property and allows the octogenarian to return to the home where she has lived for decades.

“Yesterday they understood that the City Council was the appropriate instrument to reach an agreement in which both parties, knowing that they had to give in, nevertheless wanted to reach that agreement,” said José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who also assured that both parties thanked the intervention of the Consistory and admitted that the pact would not have been possible without it.

The Intermediation Service, with 731 homes included

The agreement is part of the Madrid City Council's Intermediation Service, an action plan launched three years ago so that owners can incorporate their homes into the rental market with guarantees against possible non-payments or damages. The program, the mayor recalled, was approved with the support of all municipal groups and already includes 731 properties in the capital.

José Luis Martínez-Almeida has insisted that this system does not entail an additional cost for the City Council, as it is integrated into a framework contract that provides for both the payment policy and the home insurance policy, multi-risk home insurance, and advice to the tenant within the common services of the municipal company. In total, he specified, the framework agreement entails 500 euros per year for the insurance premium and the energy certificate.

Criticism of the central government and defense of the municipal model

The mayor has maintained that this program would not be necessary if Pedro Sánchez were not in the Government of Spain and has defended that it is a formula to protect owners and facilitate their homes entering the rental market. “We haven't had to invent anything,” he stressed, before adding that the City Council has been applying this instrument for thirteen years and that, currently, there are 739 homes included in the system.

In that context, José Luis Martínez-Almeida has insisted that the Madrid City Council “is always in the solution,” unlike those who, he said, opt for confrontation. The agreement on Maricarmen Abascal, he stressed, has been reached thanks to municipal mediation and understanding between the parties.