Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked the housing protest in Spain, died today at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid. This was confirmed in a statement from the Tenants’ Union. On September 23 she was evicted from her home in Retiro, where she had lived for seventy years.

“We are saddened to announce Maricarmen’s passing, which occurred today,” reads the statement also signed by her family and her lawyer, noting that Maricarmen had been hospitalized since the eviction. “Although a historic agreement had been reached that would have allowed her to return home, this solution arrived too late,” the signatories lament, observing that what followed her eviction—mass demonstrations, encampments in public squares, snap elections and the call for a general strike—represents “a turning point in the history of this country.” “The price paid to reach this point was far too high,” they emphasize, concluding with the appeal she repeatedly addressed to them: “Fight, keep fighting for what is yours.”

The dramatic video of the eviction

The protest that began in Madrid and later spread across the country was sparked by a video, shared by the Daily Mail, showing riot police storming the elderly woman’s apartment. The woman had barricaded the door with furniture in a desperate attempt to resist.

The rent on the home, bought in 2018 by a real estate company, was due to increase by 275% (from about €440 to €1,650 per month). The case provoked strong controversy and protests in Spain. Supporters and Amnesty International denounced a “violation of human rights,” criticizing the use of force and the mere 30 minutes given to the elderly woman, in a wheelchair, to leave the home before being taken to hospital.

Protests against the eviction across the country

In recent days tens of thousands of people have marched through the streets of Madrid and across the country to protest the eviction, demanding greater protection for tenants. Demonstrators walked through city streets, waving keys and blowing whistles to call for measures to curb rising housing costs and make evictions more difficult. “You could be the next Maricarmen,” they chanted in unison during the rallies that swept across Spain for days.

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