Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old Spanish woman whose eviction from her Madrid home last month triggered mass housing protests and contributed to the calling of an early election, has died, the Madrid tenants’ union said on Wednesday. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets following her death.
Abascal had been in hospital with severe anxiety and exhaustion since September 23, when police and social workers removed her from her home of more than 70 years on a stretcher. Her cause of death was not announced.
Her eviction became a focal point for anger over Spain’s housing crisis, marked by a shortage of homes and rising rents. Activists had camped in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, a major city square, as protests spread. On Wednesday, thousands marched from the square towards parliament, chanting: “This is not a death. It’s a murder!”
“This was a completely avoidable death that symbolizes the drama that is the housing crisis in Spain,” said Dario Gomez, a 36-year-old demonstrator in Madrid. Protests were also held in Barcelona.
Trade unions announced on Wednesday that they would hold a nationwide general strike over housing issues on November 11, adding pressure on the government as the issue becomes increasingly prominent in Spanish politics.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early election for November 29 after the protests and parliament’s rejection last week of decrees intended to curb evictions and limit pressure from rising rents. The election campaign is expected to place housing alongside other major political issues facing Sanchez’s government.
Sanchez is seeking to shift political attention away from his government’s handling of a migrant crisis in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta and a series of corruption cases involving members of his Socialist Party and his family, while capitalising on growing public resentment over housing costs.
The tenants’ union paid tribute to Abascal after her death, saying her struggle had left a lasting example. “Now, following her passing, we are left with the example of the fight she waged and the legacy Maricarmen has left behind,” it said. “And, above all, we will honor what she always asked of us: ‘Fight, keep fighting for what is yours.’”
Sanchez also expressed his condolences in a post on X, writing: “A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today.” Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of Spain’s centre-right People’s Party, said Abascal’s death should not be politicised. “No campaigns, no political parties, no other interests here,” he wrote. “In the face of someone’s death, respect is all that matters.”
Abascal was evicted after an investment fund bought her house. Several days later, her lawyer said she had reached an eight-year agreement with her landlord allowing her to return and pay the same rent she had previously paid. She had intended to sign the agreement after recovering, but remained in hospital and never had the opportunity to leave.
A neighbour said Abascal had been shaped by her experience of living under Spain’s authoritarian Franco regime, which ended in 1975. He described her as “a fighter”, with clear ideas, a broad sense of justice and a strong social conscience and commitment to solidarity.
Guillermo Ruiz, a 31-year-old audiovisual specialist who attended Wednesday’s march, said he felt pessimistic about the prospects for change. “The best homage we can pay to her is to continue the fight, continue to mobilize, fight for a dignified life and that what happened to her doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
