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The Madrid Tenants Union announced on October 7 that Maricarmen Abascal had died that day. The union said in a statement, “We regret to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” while describing her situation as a turning point in the history of the country. Abascal had been hospitalised with exhaustion after her eviction two weeks earlier, which prevented her from signing a revised rental contract offered by the property owners.
Abascal had lived in the Retiro district apartment since 1956 but was evicted after investment firm Urbagestión, which bought the property in 2018, increased her monthly rent from 500 euros to 2,650 euros, a figure later reduced to 1,650 euros. Her pension of around 1,350 euros left her unable to cover the new rate, according to reports from Reuters and El Pais. Three previous eviction attempts were blocked by the courts before police carried out the action on September 23, with Abascal removed on a stretcher as supporters gathered outside.
The eviction triggered protests across Spain, with Reuters reporting that some 30,000 people marched through Madrid days later under slogans such as “Speculators go home.” Demonstrators camped in Puerta del Sol square and similar actions spread to Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and other cities, El Pais reported. The case drew support from figures including actor Carlos Bardem and singer Ana Belen, amplifying attention on tenant vulnerabilities.
Spain maintains far less subsidised public rental housing than the European Union average, a point highlighted in Los Angeles Times coverage of the demonstrations. The Guardian noted that while evictions have declined to roughly one-third of post-financial crisis levels, the Madrid region still sees an average of three per day. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had called in June for Abascal’s eviction to be halted and for affordable accommodation to be offered.
Protests over the eviction piled pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government to propose emergency housing measures, including limits on rent hikes and eviction protections, but those bills were rejected in Congress last week. France 24 reported that the political fallout contributed to Sanchez calling snap elections for November 29. The Madrid Tenants Union added in its statement that while a historic agreement had been reached that would have allowed Abascal to return to her home, “this solution has come too late. An absolutely avoidable situation after a torturing process.”
Abascal’s lawyer Beatriz Duro told reporters the eventual offer for Abascal to return at a rent similar to her previous rate resulted from the social mobilisation, according to Reuters. The pensioner had refused alternative housing proposed by authorities, preferring to remain in the only home she had known for more than seven decades. International housing activists from more than 20 European countries joined the Madrid protests, viewing the case as a potential catalyst for broader action, El Pais reported.
