María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction set off a nationwide wave of protests against Spain’s housing crisis, has died.
News of her death came two weeks after Maricarmen, as she had come to be known across Spain, was evicted from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than seven decades.
The pensioner, whose apartment had been purchased by an investment firm who sought to hike her rent by 230%, swiftly became a symbol of the many left behind by Spain’s surging housing market.
Scenes of the eviction, which saw police use rounds of teargas as they carried out the order, made headlines across Spain. The shocking images – showing Abascal being forcibly removed from her home on a stretcher, flanked by protesters and police – swiftly crystallised into anger.
About 10,000 people took to the streets of Madrid hours later, wielding signs such as “Shame” and “We’re all Maricarmen”. From Spain’s north to the south, people poured into plazas to protest the suffering wrought by rents that had soared 80% in the span of a decade while house prices had climbed 63%. » | Ashifa Kassam and Sam Jones in Madrid | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
