TIMELINE: HOW THE HOUSING CRISIS TURNED INTO A SNAP ELECTION IN SPAIN

Update 7th October: Maricarmen Abascal died.

Video report from CNN

:

Timeline: 23-Sept/5-Oct below

 

Click on pic below to get more info about how it all started on a previous post

Video from ITN News: 

HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY 2026!

1-OCT: INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY

 

Yesterday, October 1st, was also international coffee day, so one day later we publish this post devoted to this famous daily worldwide drink with specific related vocabulary.

TOO OLD TO LEARN? [The Beatles, "WHEN I'M 64"]

ADULTS LEARNING ENGLISH ON 

THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF OLDER PERSONS

The International Day of the Retired is officially observed globally as the International Day of Older Persons on October 1st every year. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1990, the day is devoted to recognizing the contributions of older and retired individuals to society and addressing the challenges of aging.

So today we are asking is it too old to learn a language?

Audio "WHEN I'M 64"*, The Beatles:

  *Now I'm 64 

HOUSING CRISIS IN SPAIN: WHEN PROFITS COME BEFORE HUMANITY [Updated with THE TENT CAMP PROTEST @ PUERTA DEL SOL, MADRID]

Taken from "Everything is Boffo" Facebook

 Outside an apartment building in Madrid's Retiro district is still full of neighbours, activists, and cameras. And the story of what happened has become the most human illustration of Spain's housing crisis we have seen all year.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 — 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

𝗠𝗮𝗿í𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹 — known to everyone as Maricarmen — 𝗶𝘀 𝟴𝟳 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗹𝗱. This morning she was evicted from the flat at 46 Alcalde Sainz de Baranda Street in Madrid's Retiro district, where she had lived since 1956.

This was the fourth attempt to evict her. Court officials went through with it this time after several postponements. Police cleared hundreds of people who had gathered in an attempt to stop the eviction.

Seventy years. She moved in when Eisenhower was President of the United States, when Franco still governed Spain, when the apartment building was new. She has watched everything that has happened to this country from that address. And this morning, at 87, she was removed from it by court officials while hundreds of her neighbors stood in the street trying to stop it from happening.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 — 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻.

An 87-year-old woman was forced out of her Madrid apartment after her rent shot up under a new landlord. Police carried out the eviction despite protests and last-minute offers to pay. The case shows how vulnerable tenants are in Spain's rental market.

The building was purchased by an investment fund. The new landlord dramatically increased the rent. Maricarmen could not meet the new price. The legal process that followed took time — three previous eviction attempts were postponed because of her age and the community pushback — but the fourth attempt was carried out this morning regardless.

This was the fourth attempt to evict her. The first three were postponed because of her age and the pushback from neighbors and activists.

The UN had also opposed the decision to evict her. Madrid's Tenants' Union had been present throughout. Left-wing parties across the spectrum have spent the morning calling for emergency housing legislation responses.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 — 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱.

We have been covering Spain's housing crisis for most of this year. The record rental costs. The property raffle where 40,000 people entered for a €10 ticket. The worst cities to find an apartment. The government's €7 billion housing plan. The data showing that 70% of net wages in some cities goes to rent.

Maricarmen is not a statistic. She is a person with a name and a face and 70 years of daily life in one apartment in Madrid. She is also, as of this morning, a person without a home.

What makes this case the one that is stopping people today — more than the data, more than the policy debates, more than the political arguments — is its complete clarity. An 87-year-old woman. Seventy years in one home. An investment fund. A rent increase she could not meet. Police at the door on the fourth attempt.

There is nothing complicated about that sequence. It does not require expertise in housing law or economics to understand what it means. And that is why the street outside her building has been full of people since early this morning.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻'𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲.

We have reported multiple times this year that Spain's rental market is at an all-time high average cost. That Bankinter's own economists said renting is no longer viable for domestic demand. That Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and Málaga are all in crisis.

What Maricarmen's case adds to all of that data is the human endpoint of the trajectory. When investment funds buy residential buildings and raise rents to market rates, the people who cannot meet those market rates leave — or are removed. The legal process that removes them is real, functional, and being carried out by court officials in Retiro at 11am on a Wednesday in September 2026.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄.

It has not been confirmed where she will go. Activists and neighbours have said they will ensure she has somewhere to stay. The formal social services response from the Madrid regional government has not been publicly communicated.

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴: 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 — 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 87-𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘜𝘕 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 (𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮, 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 23, 2026) — 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 / 𝘓𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 — 𝘌𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥 (𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮, 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 23, 2026) — 𝘌𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 / 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 — 𝘔á𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭.𝘦𝘴, 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 23, 2026)

+ info @ "The Guardian":

Eviction of 87-year-old puts Spain’s deepening housing crisis in the spotlight

Video from The New York Times:

+ info click on pic

Update October 7th, link on pic below to more recent post on this blog about the topic:

ClickOnEnglish 17th ANNIVERSARY

 

Another celebration, our seventeenth anniversary of this blog. Another course has already just started and posts will still be coming up, at least once a month... or whenever there's something interesting and worth being published throughout the whole year. And you can always search back in the archive to find interesting topics and what you're looking for related to learning and practicing English...

*DISCLAIMER: 

With each passing year spent away from school, the connection gradually fades; consequently, there will be each time fewer references to activities taking place there, as there is no access to images other than those already appearing on the school's social media channels or the complete context in which they are held.

9/11 TERRORIST ATTACKS, 25th ANNIVERSARY

Twenty-five years ago today, over 2900 lives were lost in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Looking back at that fateful day with this video timeline.

Video "Remembering 9/11: a timeline of tragic events":

Video "How America's worst terrorist attack unfolded":

POWER: 5 TIPS TO PLAN & ORGANIZE YOUR WRITING

 

The school year starts today. Including some tips to improve your writings this course to start with. Follow them and see if it works.

Good luck to all students & teachers this year!

PISA 2025 RESULTS SHOW STUDENTS' LEVEL DECLINING

 The latest OECDPISA results, released today, show that student performance has declined across all three core subjects over the past decade.

Across OECD countries between 2015 and 2025:

Reading scores fell by 28 points, the steepest decline of the three subjects.

Mathematics scores dropped by 22 points, equivalent to just over one year of learning.

Science proved more resilient, with scores declining by 7 points.

The results underline the importance of strengthening the knowledge and skills students need for the future. Strong foundations in reading, mathematics and science enable students to think, learn and use AI effectively.

+ info:

PISA 2025: Students’ reading and mathematics performance declined sharply across the OECD

NEW ACCURATE-SIZED WORLD MAP APPROVED BY THE UN

 

Info by BBC:

Thomas Mukhwana,Africa correspondent,and

Wycliffe Muia 

The UN General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with one that more accurately reflects the size of Africa.

The "Correct the Map" resolution, sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, passed with the support of 164 nations, including France and the UK. The US was the only nation to vote against it - while there were six abstentions.

The UN vote is non-binding but will see changes to the maps used by institutions around the world.

The Mercator map, which has been in common use since the 16th Century, has come in for criticism as it shows Africa as being of similar in size to Greenland, even though it is actually 14 times larger.

The Mercator map was designed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator to help European explorers navigate across the world.

The distortion of his map is a result of the fact that it is impossible to accurately represent the surface of a globe on a two-dimensional chart.

+ info @ The Guardian:

UN votes to adopt new world map that shows Africa’s true scale

SEVEN FRENCH WORDS OFTEN USED IN ENGLISH