María del Carmen Abascal’s death brings renewed protests over housing in Madrid

María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from a Madrid apartment prompted protests across Spain, died in hospital on Wednesday, October 7. Her death brought demonstrators back into Madrid’s streets and renewed attention on housing costs, while her lawyer did not disclose a cause of death, according to the Associated Press. The eviction’s effect on her health cannot be established from the available reporting.

Abascal, widely known as Maricarmen, had lived in the apartment for seven decades. Images of police carrying her out on a stretcher during her September 23 eviction were televised. AP reported that she used a wheelchair and was taken to hospital because of her fragile health. Her case became a focus for tenants protesting rents and evictions in Madrid and other Spanish cities.

What happened after Abascal’s death

Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, confirmed the death. Protesters gathered near Spain’s parliament, where demonstrators chanted, ‘Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on,’ according to Al Jazeera’s gallery report, which credits AFP and AP. AP also reported a minute of silence at Puerta del Sol, the central Madrid square where campaigners had previously held protests and encampments over her eviction.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered condolences and called Abascal a symbol for renters struggling with housing affordability. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez also expressed condolences, according to AP. Conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo offered condolences and urged respect for her family, warning against using her death for political advantage. Those responses show how widely the case has entered Spain’s political debate, without resolving what caused her death.

The agreement to return to her apartment

After public pressure, the real estate company agreed to let Abascal return to the apartment, AP reported. She was expected to go back after leaving hospital. Al Jazeera reported that she was due to sign a new lease on October 8, the day after she died. The accounts do not establish whether that lease was signed after her death or what will happen to the apartment.

For the protesters, the agreement had been a concrete response to a case that began with one tenant’s removal and spread into a wider housing campaign. The Madrid Tenants’ Union organised protests and encampments at Puerta del Sol after the September eviction, according to Al Jazeera. Demonstrations then spread to other cities. Abascal died before the planned return home, leaving the agreement’s practical outcome unclear.

Spain’s housing costs and political response

The pressures behind the protests extend beyond Abascal’s case. AP reported that Spain’s average rent had almost doubled over a decade, citing property website Idealista. It also cited government figures showing that 26 percent of renters spent an average of 40 percent of their income on rent and utilities, compared with 18 percent across the European Union. Those figures describe a broader affordability problem; they do not explain any individual tenant’s circumstances.

Al Jazeera reported an average monthly rent of 1,176 euros and cited Youth Council of Spain figures equating that amount to about 98.7 percent of a young person’s average monthly salary. The comparison helps explain why housing campaigners see rents as a barrier for younger residents. It is an attributed national comparison, rather than a measure of Abascal’s rent or the terms of the proposed new lease.

The housing dispute has also become an immediate political issue. Sánchez called an early election for November 29 after his government failed to pass emergency housing measures the previous week, AP reported. Al Jazeera reported that Spain’s two largest unions announced a nationwide housing strike for November 11, subject to ratification by other unions. The vote and proposed strike remain ahead; neither is an outcome of the protests yet.

Abascal’s death adds urgency to the public dispute that followed her eviction, but two central details remain unconfirmed in the reporting: the medical cause of her death and the future of the agreement to return her to the apartment. Duro’s confirmation establishes when she died; the lawyer’s criticism and the union’s account explain why supporters are grieving and protesting. They do not establish a medical finding about the eviction.