Spanish pensioner whose eviction sparked protests dies

The 87-year-old Spanish woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protest has died.

Maricarmen Abascal was hospitalised after she was evicted from the apartment she had lived in for seven decades.

She was expected to return home as soon as she was discharged, after accepting a deal with the company that owned her apartment.

"Although a historic agreement was reached that would have allowed her to return to her home, this solution came too late," the Madrid Tenants' Union said.

"It was an entirely avoidable situation following a harrowing ordeal."

Protesters who have been camped out in Madrid's iconic Sol square held a minute of silence after hearing news of her passing.

Her case has drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets in outrage and led the prime minister to call for early elections after failing to pass measures to address the country's housing crisis.

Nationwide housing protests erupt

Taken out of her home on a stretcher in the upscale Retiro neighborhood, Ms Abascal was greeted by protesters and supporters as she was loaded into an ambulance.

Trade unions on Wednesday announced a nationwide general strike over housing issues on November 11.

Those protests, along with parliament's rejection last week of decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures, prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call an early election for November 29.

"All my love to Maricarmen's family and loved ones," Sánchez said in a post on X.

"A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today."

The tenants' union said people were left with " the example of the fight she waged and the legacy Maricarmen has left behind".

"And, above all, we will honour what she always asked of us: 'Fight, keep fighting for what is yours," it said.

Angel Victor Torres, Spain's territorial policy minister, said Ms Abascal had become a symbol of what was happening to many families as elderly and young people struggled to stay in their homes.