(OSV News) — Maria Del Carmen Abascal, the elderly woman whose eviction made her a symbol of Spain’s devastating housing crisis, which sparked nationwide protests, has died just days after an agreement was reached for her to return home.
In a tweet posted to X Oct. 7, the Tenants Union of Madrid, a grassroots organization that advocated on her behalf and mobilized protests against her eviction, announced the death of the woman, who was known by her nickname, Maricarmen.
“One day here in Madrid, we got together to defend the homes they want to steal from us,” the union wrote. “Maricarmen, you are not alone; nothing will stop us. The Union is family; we will fight for it.”
Abascal died at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón Hospital, where she had been hospitalized since her Sept. 23 eviction from the apartment where she had lived for over 70 years. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, the 87-year-old woman was already in fragile health and suffered anxiety and stress due to her eviction.
Evicted after her rent tripled by new owner of her building
She was evicted after a real estate company bought her building and raised her rent from 500 euros ($560) a month to 1,650 euros ($1,845), surpassing her monthly pension of 1,300 euros ($1,450).
Photos of Abascal being forced to leave her home on a stretcher drew widespread indignation and sparked nationwide protests. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised to act in parliament on her case.
However, the elderly woman blamed Sánchez for the housing crisis, according to The Associated Press. “Does he not realize the quantity of evictions that there are daily?” she asked in an interview with RTVE, the Spanish news broadcaster.
Following the public outcry, the real estate company reached an agreement that would allow her to return. However, her family said in a statement, “this solution has come too late.”
Abascal’s case, along with the housing crisis affecting all of Europe, was brought to Pope Leo XIV’s attention during his return flight from France Sept. 28.
‘How is it possible for something like this to happen?’
The pope said that while he wasn’t familiar with her case, it seemed “that this would be a situation in which neighbors, the community, the parish, the diocese, or the government would need to step in and ask, ‘How is it possible for something like this to happen?'”
“What is wrong with a system that allows an elderly woman, who is also disabled or facing some difficulty, to be evicted from her home?” he asked. “The Church speaks a great deal about ‘discarding the weak’ and also about justice. She invites, promotes and seeks to awaken in everyone the capacity to respond with a deeper sense of humanity, to be truly sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.”
Pope Leo went on to say that the current housing crisis facing many European countries cannot be solved by the Church alone and highlighted the need to “call on political leaders and authorities to find a solution.”
“Since this problem is clearly on the rise, people often only react when an emergency arises; yet, we must look closely at the systemic causes of this problem and determine how to help,” the pope said.
Prime minister had vowed to tackle housing crisis
In the wake of the nationwide protests following her eviction, Sánchez vowed to tackle the housing crisis which, according to AP, has seen the average rent double in the last 10 years.
However, a series of emergency decrees he introduced to parliament were rejected by right-wing opposition parties, AP reported.
The legislative defeat prompted Sanchez to call for an early election Nov. 29. In a televised address, the prime minister hoped to win “a much larger progressive majority in parliament, one that will allow us to overcome vested interests, deliver new social advances and continue transforming Spain.”
However, the snap elections are seen as a gamble at a time when Sánchez has grown unpopular due to several political and personal challenges. Among the most prominent are the migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and corruption charges against his wife, as well as his brother, who was convicted of administrative misconduct and benefiting from his family connection.
Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.
