LAST UPDATE | 8 Oct

AN 87-YEAR-OLD MADRID woman whose eviction triggered nationwide protests over Spain’s chronic housing crisis and a political debate that culminated in early elections died on Wednesday, a tenants’ union said.

“We are sorry to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” the Madrid Tenants’ Union said in a statement about Maricarmen Abascal, adding that her case marked “a turning point in the history of this country”.

Abascal became a symbol of Spain’s housing market on 23 September when she was evicted from her lifelong Madrid home on a stretcher after the real estate firm that owned the apartment drastically hiked the rent.

People leaving messages and candles at her home this evening Alamy Alamy

Outrage at her eviction triggered national demonstrations, with hundreds of people camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square.

The movement piled pressure on the minority leftist government to present urgent housing measures, including more restrictions on evictions and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts.

But their rejection in parliament last week prompted socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap election for 29 November in which housing will feature prominently.

Large protest outside the property she was evicted from Alamy Alamy

“The housing debate is at the centre, but the cost to get here has been too high,” the tenants’ union said of the election, originally due in 2027.

Abascal had been hospitalised with exhaustion after her eviction, but a deal had been reached with the company that owned her flat allowing her to return home.

“This solution has come too late. A totally avoidable situation after a torturous process,” added the tenants’ union.

‘Turning point’ 

The Madrid Tenants’ Union, which announced Abascal’s death, said her case marked “a turning point in the history of this country”.

She used a wheelchair and was escorted from her life-long home on a stretcher, spending her final days in hospital for exhaustion after the eviction.

The encampment in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones. A hug too to those of us who today feel this loss as our own,” Sánchez said on X.

Protesters in Sol wept, embraced each other and lit candles in memory of Abascal. Hundreds marched to parliament chanting: “The struggle continues, Maricarmen lives”, AFP journalists saw.

“Even though she’s dead, a struggle has begun that will not stop. It doesn’t matter who governs, because they will not stop us,” said protester Nora Boumghait (25), who works in marketing.

Sánchez, who is trailing in most polls, has accused the main conservative Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox of siding with speculators and large investment funds by downing his housing measures.

The opposition says Sanchez is to blame for not improving the situation during his eight years in office.

On Tuesday, Sanchez presented two new housing decrees that are similar to the unsuccessful ones and may have more chances of approval in a special parliamentary council.