Maricarmen Abascal Dies After Madrid Eviction, Sparking Protests and Spain Housing Crisis Debate

Spain’s housing crisis symbol

Maricarmen Abascal, known as “Maricarmen,” died at 87 after being evicted from her Madrid home, and her death intensified Spain’s debate over housing and pushed the country into a political crisis.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez led tributes online, writing on X: “All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones. … Rest in peace.”

Protesters gathered near parliament and chanted “Maricarmen lives. The fight goes on!” as activists said her case exposed the human cost of soaring rents and aggressive evictions.

Maricarmen’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, said the eviction was “shameful violence” and showed “the impact it can have on people’s health,” even after a deal was reached allowing her to return home.

Spain’s housing dispute also fed into early elections, after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early election for November 29 following failure to pass emergency housing measures.

Reporting for this sectionAl Jazeera

Protests, strikes, and politics

The death of Maricarmen fueled protests that centered on Puerta del Sol, where around 1,000 people camped for two weeks after her eviction on Sept. 23, and where a handwritten message said, “Rest in Peace Maricarmen.”

Maricarmen’s death also became a flashpoint for political messaging, as the far-right Vox party accused Pedro Sánchez of instrumentalizing her death, saying “They killed Maricarmen.”

Spain’s government responded to the housing crisis with decrees that deputies rejected, and Pedro Sánchez dissolved Parliament and called early elections after deputies did not approve the two government decrees on housing.

Spain’s major unions backed a general housing strike called for November 11, as the campaign entered the final stretch ahead of the parliamentary elections at the end of November.

The CIS barometer cited in Spain showed 87% of Spaniards were worried “a lot” or “quite a bit” about the housing crisis and 76.3% said the State must intervene “as much as necessary to ensure everyone’s access to housing.”

Reporting for this sectionFolha de S.PauloAntena 3 Noticias

International attention and stakes

International coverage framed Maricarmen as a “symbol” of Spain’s housing crisis, with Le Figaro describing her as the retiree whose eviction triggered “mass protests” and contributed to the call for early elections. The BBC said Maricarmen became the face of a crisis that affects millions in Spain, and it quoted her saying, “If I could not defend my home, at least I fought so that others would learn to defend theirs,” after she was carried out on a stretcher. The Guardian placed Maricarmen’s death within the broader context of Spain’s housing crisis and political unrest, describing her as the one whose eviction from her Madrid flat sparked protests across the country and defined her as a “symbol.”

Spain’s political stakes remained tied to housing measures, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called early elections for November 29 after Congress of Deputies rejected his proposed measures to curb the housing crisis. The housing debate also carried measurable public pressure, with the CIS survey reporting 9 out of 10 respondents believed public administrations should build more public housing and 95.4% favored lowering taxes on the purchase of a first home.

Reporting for this sectionArtículo 14BBC