About 20,000 march in Madrid to mourn evicted pensioner Maricarmen Abascal
Mourners walked from Puerta del Sol to Abascal’s former home as Spain’s housing protests continued ahead of an early election.
About 20,000 people marched through Madrid on Thursday, Oct. 8, to mourn Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old tenant whose September eviction became a rallying point for Spain’s housing protests. The figure is a provisional estimate from the central government’s delegation in Madrid. Mourners walked from Puerta del Sol to her former home in the Retiro district, days after Spain’s prime minister called an early election.
The march followed Abascal’s death in hospital on Wednesday, about two weeks after she was evicted from the apartment where she had lived for most of her life. Her lawyer had not disclosed a cause of death, the Associated Press reported. Protesters’ accusations about responsibility for her death express anger; the reporting does not establish what caused it.
How Madrid mourners marked Maricarmen Abascal’s death
The march covered roughly three kilometres from Puerta del Sol, where protesters had set up an encampment and a makeshift memorial of candles, flowers and placards, to Abascal’s former building. Outside the residence, mourners applauded, left more flowers and candles, and observed a silence, according to France 24’s report with AFP.
EL PAÍS reported that the procession set off shortly after its scheduled 8 p.m. start in an atmosphere resembling a funeral. Members of the Tenants’ Union carried a wreath. France 24/AFP reported that people of different ages joined the march, some chanting, ‘They aren’t deaths, they are murders.’ That slogan conveys the protesters’ view; it is not a finding about Abascal’s death.
‘Maricarmen will be an icon of struggle. She has made us wake up and say “enough”. We cannot put up with this situation any longer,’ Rosa Marin, a 48-year-old teacher at the march, told AFP. Marisol Gallo, 82, said she attended in solidarity with younger people struggling with Madrid’s housing costs. She called the situation ‘a disgrace’ and ‘an injustice’ and said she hoped the protests would bring change.
The eviction dispute behind the housing protests
Abascal’s father first rented the Retiro apartment in 1956, according to a timeline published by EL PAÍS. The lease later passed to her mother and then to Abascal. After a real estate company bought the flat, the dispute began in 2020 over whether that second transfer remained valid under Spain’s rental rules. A lower court ruled for Abascal, but a provincial court reached the opposite conclusion in 2022. Spain’s Supreme Court later rejected her appeal.
EL PAÍS reported that the company offered Abascal alternative accommodation for about €1,600 a month while her pension was about €1,400. She also could not afford an offer to buy the apartment for roughly €250,000. Three attempted evictions were postponed after public mobilization. The fourth went ahead on Sept. 23; Abascal left in a wheelchair and was taken to hospital on a stretcher.
The company subsequently agreed to let Abascal return on a lower rent. EL PAÍS reported that it signed an eight-year lease and handed over the keys on Oct. 2; Abascal was due to sign on Oct. 8. She died the day before, without returning home. The agreement addressed her tenancy, while the wider demands voiced by protesters remained unresolved.
Housing protests and Spain’s early election
Abascal’s eviction had already prompted protests beyond her neighborhood. An encampment formed in Puerta del Sol, and housing became a focus of national political debate. Spain’s Congress rejected two government housing decrees on Oct. 1; EL PAÍS reported that the PP, Vox and Junts voted against them. The measures included stronger eviction protections for vulnerable tenants and automatic contract renewals, France 24/AFP reported.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced an early general election on Oct. 5, scheduled for Nov. 29, amid the dispute over housing. It remains unclear whether the marches will change housing policy or the election result. The provisional crowd estimate, the failed decrees and the election date establish the immediate political setting of Thursday’s tribute; none establishes a cause of death.
The tribute also exposed disagreement over how politicians should respond. EL PAÍS reported that Madrid’s PP and Vox declined to join a minute of silence proposed by Más Madrid and supported by PSOE, saying they did not want to use anyone’s death for political ends. At the march, 67-year-old retiree Manuel Martin told AFP that housing was a structural national problem that no party could solve alone.
Sources and context
- Tens of thousands march in Madrid to mourn pensioner whose eviction sparked housing protestsFrance 24 (with AFP)
- Una marcha en honor a Maricarmen recorre Madrid: ‘¡No son muertes, son asesinatos!’EL PAÍS
- Death of 87-year-old Maricarmen is reenergizing Spain’s protests to stop evictionsAssociated Press
- Timeline of the Maricarmen case: From four eviction attempts to a housing movement that shook SpainEL PAÍS
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
About NewsJaws Desk
AI-assisted reporting and explainers reviewed against the linked source documents. No claim of on-scene reporting or original interviews.