The death of María del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman evicted from her Madrid home, has intensified Spain’s political turmoil. Nationwide protests against escalating housing costs have emerged following her eviction.
Abascal, affectionately known as ‘Maricarmen,’ passed away Wednesday after hospitalization due to her eviction from the apartment she had called home for seven decades. Her death occurred shortly after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a snap election for November 29, prompted by his government’s inability to pass urgent housing legislation.
The uproar surrounding Abascal’s eviction has put Sánchez’s Socialist Party under pressure, highlighting ongoing frustrations over rent increases and housing affordability. On September 23, Abascal’s eviction drew public attention with images of her being carried out on a stretcher, while protestors clashed with police.
Protests sprang up in Madrid and other cities, where Abascal became a symbol of Spain’s housing woes. The real estate company intended to re-lease her apartment at a much higher rate. Despite public outcry prompting the company to allow her return, Abascal died before moving back. Her cause of death remains undisclosed.
Following her passing, demonstrators gathered outside Parliament and Puerta del Sol square, observing minutes of silence and chanting slogans like ‘Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!’
Prime Minister Sánchez and conservative leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo both shared condolences, urging respect and caution against exploiting the death for political purposes. Housing activists have seized on Abascal’s eviction and death to push for rental reforms as Spain gears up for its upcoming election.
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