Thousands march in Madrid after evicted pensioner Maricarmen’s death

María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old pensioner known across Spain as "Maricarmen," died Wednesday, Oct. 7, in Madrid's Gregorio Marañón Hospital. She had been there for two weeks, since police removed her on Sept. 23 from the Retiro apartment where she had lived for more than 70 years. The Madrid Tenants' Union announced her death. She had been due to sign a new lease on Thursday that would have let her move back home.reuters+3

Her death comes as Spain heads toward a snap general election on Nov. 29. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the vote after parliament rejected his emergency housing measures, which were drawn up in response to the protests over her eviction.npr+1

A deal that came too late

Abascal had been in the hospital for severe anxiety and exhaustion. No cause of death has been announced. After she was evicted, the owner of the building, Urbagestión, agreed under public pressure to an eight-year lease at about her old rent of roughly €500 a month. She had been unable to pay the roughly €1,600 the company asked for earlier, since her pension was about €1,400. "This solution came too late," the union said, calling it "an entirely avoidable situation following a harrowing ordeal". Urbagestión told a Spanish newspaper that "we deeply regret the situation; we were not expecting this," and said it has no plans for the flat "for the time being".english.elpais+5

Her father first rented the sixth-floor apartment in 1956. Urbagestión bought it in 2018 and then challenged whether the lease could legally pass to her, which started a seven-year court battle that ended in four eviction attempts.cadenaser+1

Grief and blame

On Thursday, thousands of people marched with a wreath from the protest camp in Puerta del Sol to her former home, chanting "They're not deaths; they're murders". About 1,000 people have been camped in the square for two weeks. Spain's two largest unions have called a general strike over housing for Nov. 11.cbc+3

Sánchez wrote on X: "All my love to Maricarmen's family and loved ones… Rest in peace". Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the People's Party first called for "no campaign, no party, no use for political advantage". By Thursday he was accusing the Socialists of trying to "manipulate the emotions of the Spanish people".reuters+1

In Madrid's regional assembly, Manuela Bergerot of Más Madrid said Abascal died because of "miserable people who put gain above a person's life". The People's Party, which holds absolute majorities in Madrid's regional and city governments, refused to hold a minute of silence for her.reuters

A survey published Thursday by the state pollster CIS found that 76.3% of Spaniards support intervening in the housing market to guarantee access to homes.reuters

"Her death completes the narrative that evictions and real estate speculation literally kill," Complutense University professor Alejandro Quiroga told the Associated Press.cbc