Maricarmen Abascal has died, the Madrid Tenants' Union said, after her September eviction from an apartment she had lived in for more than 70 years became a symbol of Spain's housing crisis. She was 87.
The union said, "We regret to announce that Maricarmen passed away today," and urged people to "fight, keep fighting for what is yours."
Madrid Tenants' Union statement
Abascal was forcibly removed on a stretcher in September after she was unable to afford rent increases. The company that owned the flat later offered to let her return at a lower rent rate, but she could not sign an agreement because she had been admitted to hospital.
The union said her situation marked a turning point in the history of the country. It described the later offer as too late, saying, "While a historic agreement was reached that would have allowed her to return to her home, this solution has come too late. An absolutely avoidable situation after a torturing process."
Spain housing protests
After her eviction, protests spread over Spain's housing crisis. The coalition government approved emergency housing legislation, but Congress later rejected the proposed measures.
Over the weekend after that rejection, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across the country. Abascal's case remained tied to that broader response because her eviction had already become a national reference point for the housing debate.
Her death closes one part of that story, but the dispute over emergency housing legislation has already moved into Congress and onto the streets. The lower-rent return offer never became a signed agreement, leaving the consequences of the September eviction in place.
