MADRID — María del Carmen “Maricarmen” Abascal, the 87-year-old Madrid woman whose eviction from her longtime home became the symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, has died in hospital, the Madrid Tenants’ Union announced on Wednesday.
Abascal had been hospitalized since September 23, when police and social workers removed her by stretcher from the flat she had lived in for more than 70 years. She was suffering from severe anxiety and exhaustion, according to the union. No cause of death was announced.
Abascal had lived in her Retiro-district flat since 1956, paying a regulated rent of about €500 a month from a pension of roughly €1,400. After new owners acquired the property, her rent was raised to €2,650 — unaffordable for the pensioner. After years of legal disputes, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled against her in March, and the eviction was carried out last month. Televised images of the wheelchair-bound woman being carried out on a stretcher set off a wave of indignation.
Protests swept Madrid and other cities. Hundreds of activists camped in tents at Puerta del Sol. After parliament rejected decrees aimed at curbing evictions and rent pressures, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an early general election for November 29. Trade unions announced a nationwide general strike over housing for November 11.
Following the announcement of her death, thousands marched from Puerta del Sol toward parliament, chanting “Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!” Demonstrations were also held in Barcelona.
The tenants’ union said an agreement had eventually been reached with Urbagestión, the company linked to the property’s new owners, that would have allowed Abascal to return home after leaving hospital. “This solution has come too late,” the union said.
