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Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, has died weeks after she was forcibly removed from her longtime Madrid home.
The Madrid Tenants’ Union announced Abascal’s death on Wednesday but did not disclose the cause. Her death comes after her September 23 eviction drew national attention, led to demonstrations across Spain and intensified political debate over housing costs and tenant protections.
Abascal had lived in the apartment for more than 70 years. Her father first rented the property in 1956, and she remained there after her parents died.
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Urbagestión bought the building in 2018. According to reports, Abascal’s monthly rent later increased from €500 to €2,650. The company subsequently offered to reduce the rent to €1,650, which was still about €300 above her monthly pension.
After several previous eviction attempts were blocked by the courts, Abascal was eventually removed from the apartment on a stretcher. The company later offered to allow her to return at a lower rent, but she had already been admitted to hospital and was unable to sign an agreement.
News of her death was met with a minute of silence at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, where demonstrators have been camping to demand affordable housing. Candles and tributes lined the square before hundreds of people marched toward the Spanish Congress.
Abascal’s case intensified pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government to pass emergency housing legislation. Congress rejected the proposals, heightening political tensions before Sánchez called an early election for November 29.
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Housing groups said Abascal’s experience had become a defining moment in Spain’s debate over rent increases and evictions. In a video recorded from her hospital bed after the eviction, Abascal said she had fought so that others could learn to defend their homes.
Sánchez expressed condolences to her family and those mourning her death. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo also called for respect following her death.
Unions have also called a general strike for November 11 to press for housing reforms as debate over Spain’s affordability crisis continues.
