Maricarmen Abascal, 87, whose eviction ignited Spain's housing crisis, dies

María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her Madrid home sparked a wave of housing protests across Spain, has died, the Madrid Tenants’ Union announced on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Known in Spain simply as Maricarmen, she died exactly two weeks after being forcibly evicted on September 23 from the apartment she had lived in for more than 70 years, after her rent was raised from €500 to €2,650 a month, CNN reported. She had remained in hospital ever since the eviction.

“We regret to announce that Maricarmen has passed away today,” the union said. “Although a historic agreement was reached that would have allowed her to return to her home, this solution came too late.”

Her eviction ignited nationwide demonstrations over Spain’s housing crisis, with activists camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. The protests, together with parliament’s rejection of emergency housing decrees, prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap election for November 29.

Ángel Víctor Torres, Spain’s territorial policy minister, said Maricarmen had become a symbol of what was happening to many families, elderly and young people struggling to obtain their own homes or stay in them.