Evicted pensioner, 87, who sparked Spain housing protests dies, says tenant union

MADRID - An 87-year-old Madrid woman whose eviction triggered nationwide protests over Spain’s chronic housing crisis and a political debate that culminated in early elections died on Oct 7, a tenants’ union said.“We are sorry to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” the Madrid Tenants’ Union said in a statement about Maricarmen Abascal, adding that her cause marked “a turning point in the history of this country”.Abascal became a symbol of Spain’s housing market on Sept 23 when she was evicted from her life-long Madrid home on a stretcher after the real estate firm that owned the apartment drastically hiked the rent.Demonstrators in Barcelona on Oct 5 holding signs that read “Not a single more Maricarmen”, in reference to Maricarmen Abascal, a pensioner evicted from her Madrid home after 71 years of living there. PHOTO: AFPOutrage at her eviction triggered national demonstrations, with hundreds of people camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square in the most symbolic of the protests.The movement piled pressure on the minority leftist government to present urgent housing measures, including more restrictions on evictions and the automatic renewal of tenant contracts.But their rejection in parliament last week prompted Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap election for Nov 29 in which housing will feature prominently.“The housing debate is at the centre, but the cost to get here has been too high,” the tenants’ union said of the election, originally due in 2027.Abascal had been hospitalised with exhaustion after her eviction, but a deal had been reached with the company that owned her flat allowing her to return home.“This solution has come too late. A totally avoidable situation after a torturous process,” added the tenants’ union. AFP