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 in the country culminating in the government calling for snap elections, died on Wednesday while hospitalised.
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 wrote in a post on X. “A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today. Rest in peace.”
The emotions ran into anger on the street among the protesters gathered near Spain’s Parliament who chanted “Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!”
“A great deal of sorrow. And above all, the thought that she is the cause, the head of this whole revolution that has happened, and that she can’t see it,” said Iciar López, a 32-year-old psychologist and protester in the capital Madrid.
“It makes me very sad that she can’t see if anything comes of it. That’s what angers me the most, honestly.”
Spaniards increasingly frustrated by housing costs periodically march in major cities demanding action from lawmakers.
But a fresh wave of indignation has swept the Iberian nation since 23 September, when Maricarmen, who used a wheelchair, was carried on a stretcher from her home of seven decades 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’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 travelled 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,” said Duro.
She 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 Tenants’ Union said in a statement on Wednesday. “It was an entirely avoidable situation following a harrowing ordeal.”
The average rent for Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years. The government said that 26% of Spaniards who rent housing spend an average of 40% of their income on rent and utilities, compared with the European Union average of 18% of renters who do so.
Protesters camped in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square held a minute of silence after learning of her death.
Maricarmen spent almost her entire life in her apartment, where she first lived with her parents and brother. She later worked as a secretary for the board of a pharmaceutical company, according to Spanish media outlets.
After retiring in 1998, she spent her days walking around the neighbourhood, running errands and taking care of the precious items in her home.
Spanish media reported that black-and-white family photographs were among the only things she had brought with her to the hospital.
“Maricarmen only wanted to die in her home. She wasn’t asking for anything else,” Eugenio Melchor, 22, said at the protest in Madrid.
“She was dying in her home and she almost did. They have killed her. I mean, there’s no other word for it, and I hope those responsible for this pay and go to trial.”
Additional sources • AP