Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction in Madrid set off protests over housing rights across Spain, has died, according to Spanish media reports carried by Corriere della Sera. She had been in hospital since 23 September, the day she was removed from the apartment where she had lived for 70 years. The news of her death was announced by the Sindicato de Inquilinas, the tenants' union that had supported her through her legal fight.
The union said in a social media message that an agreement had eventually been reached that would have allowed her to return home, but that it came too late. It described her eviction as avoidable and as the end of what it called a process of torture. Abascal had spent seven years contesting the case through the courts.
Why it matters
Abascal's case became the face of a broader dispute over housing in Spain, a country where rising rents have pushed tenants into conflict with landlords and where evictions of vulnerable people have drawn increasing public attention. Her removal from her home turned a private legal battle into a national political issue. Within days of the eviction, hundreds and then thousands of demonstrators set up tents in Puerta del Sol, one of Madrid's main squares, to demand the right to housing, Corriere della Sera reports.
The scale of the reaction pushed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to issue two decrees aimed at halting evictions, at least for the most vulnerable people, and extending expiring rental contracts by two years. The measures were nicknamed the "Maricarmen decrees" in reference to the woman who had become the symbol of the emergency. Parliament's rejection of the decrees led to Sánchez's resignation and the calling of early elections for 29 November. The outgoing premier then reintroduced the two decrees, which are currently in force, according to Corriere della Sera.
A 70-year tenancy and a rent increase
Abascal had lived in the same Madrid apartment for seven decades. According to the reporting, her landlords intended to raise her rent from 500 euros a month to more than 2,000 euros. She was evicted despite her fragile health and was taken to hospital immediately afterwards. The union said she remained there from that day until her death.
Her case was not resolved quickly. The eviction followed a seven-year legal battle, and the tenants' union argued that the eventual settlement, which would have let her go back to the flat, arrived after the damage had been done. The union's message framed the outcome as one that should never have reached that point.
Political fallout and a general strike
The dispute over Abascal's eviction fed directly into Spain's national politics. The two decrees Sánchez issued in response to the protests were rejected by Parliament, a vote that triggered his resignation and paved the way for the 29 November election. He subsequently put the decrees forward again, and they remain in effect.
Spain's main workers' organizations have meanwhile called a general strike for 11 November, shortly before the vote. Housing rights and higher wages are the central demands, Corriere della Sera reports. The timing places the strike close to the election and keeps the housing question at the center of the campaign.
What to watch
The general strike on 11 November and the election on 29 November will show whether the mobilization that followed Abascal's eviction carries into the ballot box, and whether the decrees now in force survive the next government.
