MADRID (AP) — María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her longtime Madrid home sparked nationwide protests across Spain and unleashed a political crisis, died on Wednesday while hospitalized.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez led the way on social media offering his condolences after housing activists and Abascal's lawyer announced her death. Known widely as “Maricarmen,” she had become a symbol for renters struggling with Spain's housing affordability crisis.
“All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones,” Sánchez said in a post on X. “A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today. Rest in peace.”
Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez also expressed condolences, writing on X: “I deeply lament the death of Maricarmen. My condolences for those who accompanied her and fought by her side until the end.”
The emotions ran into anger on the street among the protesters gathered near Spain's Parliament who chanted “Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!”
Maricarmen's lawyer, Beatriz Duro, did not disclose the cause of death when she confirmed it to Cadena Ser radio. Duro said that she and the activists were all devastated.
“Maricarmen's case, which captured media attention and traveled around the world, leaves us the image of the shameful violence of these types of evictions and the impact they can have on people’s health,” Duro said.
Spaniards increasingly frustrated by housing costs periodically march in major cities demanding action from lawmakers. But a new wave of indignation has swept Spain since Sept. 23 when Maricarmen, who used a wheelchair, was carried on a stretcher from her apartment after police cordoned off the street and removed protesters. She was taken to a hospital because of her fragile health.
Televised images of the eviction prompted thousands of people to protest in Madrid and other cities across the country.
Maricarmen had been expected to return home after leaving the hospital. The real estate company that evicted her in order to rent the property at a much higher price eventually caved in under immense public pressure and agreed to let her return to the apartment.
“Although a historic agreement was reached that would have allowed her to return home, this solution came too late,” the Madrid Tenant’s Union said in a statement Wednesday. “It was an entirely avoidable situation following a harrowing ordeal.”
Protesters camped in Madrid’s iconic Puerta del Sol square held a minute of silence after learning of her death.
Maricarmen’s plight galvanized a social movement, prompted Spain’s unions to announce a general strike next month and intensified pressure on political leaders. Sánchez called an early election Monday after his government failed last week to push emergency housing measures through Parliament. He now hopes the issue will reinvigorate his Socialist Party and help him form a new government after the Nov. 29 election.
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Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.
