Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Madrid woman whose eviction became the face of Spain's housing crisis, has died in hospital, the Madrid Tenants' Union announced on Wednesday, October 7. Her death has reignited the mass protests her case first sparked — and deepened the political crisis that has already led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap general election for November 29.
The Eviction That Shook Spain
On September 23, police and social workers removed Abascal — known as Maricarmen — from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than 70 years, carrying her out on a stretcher to an ambulance. She had been in hospital ever since, suffering severe anxiety and exhaustion, according to Reuters. No cause of death has been announced.
Her rent had soared from about $560 a month to nearly $2,970 after the investment firm Urbagestión acquired the building in 2018 — far above her roughly $1,500-a-month pension — even after the landlord later lowered the demand to about $1,850. Abascal initially won in a lower court, but the Madrid Provincial Court overturned that ruling, and Spain's Supreme Court ruled against her in March 2026, formally approving her removal. Three earlier enforcement attempts had failed.
After the eviction, the landlord reversed course: an agreement brokered with Madrid City Council mediation would have let her return home on a new rental contract after her hospital discharge. The tenants' union said the solution "came too late."
Protests, a General Strike and a Snap Election
Abascal's eviction had already turned into a national symbol of a housing crisis defined by a shortage of homes and surging rents, with activists camping for weeks in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square. Her death brought thousands back into the streets: marchers moved from Puerta del Sol toward parliament chanting "This is not a death. It's a murder!" and "We are all Maricarmen." Trade unions have called a nationwide general strike over housing for November 11.
The political fallout has been rapid. On September 29, Sánchez's Council of Ministers approved emergency housing measures aimed at preventing evictions and expanding affordable housing — but parliament rejected the government's eviction-curbing decrees in an October 2 vote. Facing mounting pressure, Sánchez called the snap election, originally due in 2027, and posted condolences on X: "All my love to Maricarmen's family and loved ones... Rest in peace." Territorial policy minister Ángel Víctor Torres said she had become a symbol of families, elderly and young people struggling to stay in their homes.
Critics, including activists on the march, frame her death as an avoidable consequence of policy failure — "a completely avoidable death that symbolizes the drama that is the housing crisis in Spain," one marcher told Reuters. Government supporters point to the emergency measures and the rare Supreme Court ruling as evidence that the law, not politics, decided the case. With housing now a central campaign issue six weeks before the vote, the argument over who owns Maricarmen's legacy is only beginning.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- Reuters — death announcement, eviction details and protest coverage
- The Japan Times — eviction background and death report, October 8, 2026
- CNA — tenants' union statement and political fallout
- AP via NPR Illinois — government condolences and landlord agreement