An elderly woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protests over Spain’s housing crisis and a political row that triggered early elections has died, according to Madrid’s tenants union.
Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was forcibly removed on a stretcher from her apartment of more than 70 years on 23 September after she was unable to afford rent increases.
The company that owned the flat later offered to allow her to return at a lower rate – but she was unable to sign an agreement as she had been admitted to hospital.
“We regret to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” the Madrid Tenants’ Union said in a statement, adding her situation marked “a turning point in the history of this country”.
Union spokesperson Alicia del Río said: “Speculation costs lives, and today rentierism has finished killing our colleague Maricarmen” but “her memory lives on with us”.
A cause of death was not announced.
Abascal’s death was received in Puerta del Sol with a big collective gasp, then followed by a minute of silence.
It is in this square in the centre of Madrid where thousands have been camping since Abascal’s eviction last month to demand more affordable housing.
On Wednesday, it became the place to pay tribute to her.
People lit dozens of candles around the square in a small improvised vigil that glowed with a warm light on a dry and warm autumn night.
Other candles formed an altar to Abascal in front of the headquarters of the Community of Madrid government.
Messages on cardboard banners next to the candles read “it’s not a death, it’s a killing”, “the fight will continue” and “Mari Carmen, the grandmother of the whole country”, among others.
A few hundred people then took to the streets that connect Puerta del Sol with the Spanish Congress, just 500m away, in an improvised protest.
During the march people chanted: “We will not tolerate a single eviction more” and “the fight will continue, Mari Carmen is still alive”. There were other chants against fascism and against the police.
The police had set up barriers to block the march. There was not a big police presence, and there was the tension that protests sometimes have.
Many protesters seemed to feel the police have been complicit in the evictions, as under court orders they have to remove tenants who have been served eviction notices.
After a couple of hours, the chants near Congress gave way to another minute of silence. Then, a big collective shout of “murderers”.
Wednesday night’s march has finished, but the camping, already on its 12th night, will continue “as long as necessary” one of the protesters told the BBC.
