Spanish Pensioner Whose Eviction Sparked Nationwide Protests Dies at 87

María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Madrid pensioner whose eviction from her longtime home sparked nationwide protests over Spain’s housing crisis, has died, the Madrid Tenants’ Union announced on Wednesday.

Known widely as Maricarmen, Abascal had remained in hospital since September 23, when she was forcibly removed from the apartment where she had lived for about seven decades. The tenants’ union said she died on Wednesday, October 7. Her exact cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

Her eviction became one of the most visible episodes in Spain’s growing housing crisis. Abascal, who lived in Madrid’s Retiro district, was taken from the apartment on a stretcher after attempts by supporters to prevent the eviction failed.

The case triggered demonstrations across Spain, with protesters demanding stronger protections for vulnerable tenants and action to address rising rents and the shortage of affordable housing. Demonstrators also established a protest camp at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol.

Abascal had lived in the apartment since the 1950s. The property changed ownership and her rent was subsequently increased sharply, creating a dispute that eventually ended with her removal from the home.

The eviction generated widespread public outrage, particularly because of Abascal’s age and the circumstances in which she was taken from the apartment. Images of the pensioner being carried out on a stretcher became a defining symbol of the housing protests.

The dispute later took an unexpected turn. Following the public pressure and protests, an agreement was reached with the company that owned the apartment that would have allowed Abascal to return to her home after she was discharged from hospital.

Her lawyer had described the agreement as a significant development in the case. But Abascal never made it back to the apartment.

The Madrid Tenants’ Union said the agreement came too late, describing her ordeal as avoidable and saying her case had marked a turning point in Spain’s housing debate.

Her death also comes amid an intensifying political debate over housing in Spain.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his condolences to Abascal’s family and supporters on Wednesday, describing the loss as one felt by many across the country.

The housing crisis has become a major political issue, with the government seeking measures aimed at protecting vulnerable tenants and easing pressure from rising rents. Parliament’s rejection of proposed housing measures was followed by Sánchez’s decision to call an early general election for November 29.

Spain’s two largest trade unions, UGT and CCOO, also announced plans on Wednesday for a nationwide general strike over the housing crisis on November 11, subject to formal ratification by other unions. The unions’ announcement came weeks before the snap election.

For housing activists, Abascal’s story has come to represent a much wider struggle over affordability, tenant protection and access to secure housing.

What began as a dispute over one apartment in Madrid grew into a national movement, placing Spain’s housing crisis at the centre of public debate.

Abascal’s death has now added another painful chapter to a case that had already become a symbol of the country’s struggle over housing and the rights of vulnerable tenants.