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Thousands rally against Spain's housing shortage after 87yo's eviction

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Rental HousingHousing Policy

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  • Tens of thousands of people have protested in Madrid against Spain's housing shortage after the eviction of a 87-year-old woman from her rental apartment.
  • The protest on Saturday came in reaction to the eviction on Wednesday of a 87-year-old woman from the Madrid apartment she had lived in for decades.
  • The building changed ownership in 2018, and Ms Abascal was offered the opportunity to buy the apartment but could not afford it, according to the Madrid Tenants' Union, which organised Saturday's protest.
  • The Bank of Spain estimated that the country had a shortage of about 550,000 homes last year, with Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia accounting for a share.

4 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Headline check

Headline as published: Thousands rally against Spain's housing crisis after 87yo's eviction

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

Tens of thousands of people have protested in Madrid against Spain's housing shortage after the eviction of a 87-year-old woman from her rental apartment.

Some protesters have pitched tents to stay the night in the Puerta del Sol plaza in the Spanish capital.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Madrid to protest against Spain's housing shortage and ask for protective measures for tenants, anti-fraud rules and a ban on evictions without alternative housing.

The protest on Saturday came in reaction to the eviction on Wednesday of a 87-year-old woman from the Madrid apartment she had lived in for decades.

Taken out of her home on a stretcher in the upscale Retiro neighborhood, María del Carmen Abascal was greeted by protesters and supporters as she was loaded into an ambulance.

Spanish media reported that Ms Abascal's father first rented the property in 1956 and she continued as the tenant after her parents died, during which time there was a rent cap.

The building changed ownership in 2018, and Ms Abascal was offered the opportunity to buy the apartment but could not afford it, according to the Madrid Tenants' Union, which organised Saturday's protest.

Urbagestión, an investment fund that later bought the unit, raised her monthly rent from 500 euros to 2,650 euros.

Extensive media coverage turned Ms Abascal into a symbol of Spain's housing shortage.

The Bank of Spain estimated that the country had a shortage of about 550,000 homes last year, with Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia accounting for a share.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 8 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is ABC News's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

How outlets headlined it

Each outlet's own headline. Struck through: the loaded words our version leaves out. Plainest first.

  • ABC News Thousands rally against Spain's housing crisis shortage after 87yo's eviction 1 change
  • The West Australian Tens of thousands protest Spain's housing crisisshortage 1 change

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Also covered by The West Australian. We hold only their summary of it, not the report, so there is nothing of theirs to measure here.

Outlet Niral ScoreAdjectivesSourcingPoliticalSentimentHappiness
ABC Newsas they published this story 17.6 15 59 -0.4 -0.8 14.6
Mundane Readneutralized from ABC News 13 13 59 0 -0.1 17.9

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The same event elsewhere

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