The fate of an 87-year-old Spanish woman who was taken from her apartment by police has sparked mass protests and new elections. Her death will now harden the fronts even further.
Protest: Families, young people and pensioners took part in the march in Madrid. Photo: Manu Fernandez/AP/dpa
Madrid. The death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal two weeks after she was evicted from her apartment in Madrid has been greeted with shock and anger in Spain. Demonstrators, who have been holding out for days in a protest camp against the housing shortage in the country in the central Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, observed a minute's silence for the woman whose fate has become the trigger and symbol of the fight for affordable housing.
Her death now makes her a martyr for many. People lit candles, others held a wake in front of their former home, laid flowers, left written condolences or expressed shock and sadness in front of television cameras.
Protesters chant “murderer”
Hundreds of people marched from the protest camp to the parliament building, where government decrees for more tenant protection failed on Friday due to the majority of conservative and right-wing populist parties. The left-wing head of government Pedro Sánchez therefore scheduled new elections for November 29th on Monday. “These are not deaths, these are murders” and “murderers, murderers, murderers,” chanted demonstrators at parliament.
Maricarmen Abascal: Abascal lived in the apartment for 70 years until he was evicted. Photo: AFP
“We regret to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” the tenants’ association announced earlier in the evening. The organization had already assisted the woman before she was taken by the police from the apartment in Madrid where she had lived for 70 years on September 23rd after a years-long battle with her landlord. “The real estate speculators killed Maricarmen,” said tenants’ association spokeswoman Alicia del Río on television.
General strike on November 11th
Since Abascal's forced eviction, there have been repeated large demonstrations in Spain under the motto “Ni una Maricarmen más” (“Not another Maricarmen”). The unions announced a general strike that would paralyze the country on November 11th. "How sad. We deeply regret this news and the pain that Maricarmen has suffered during these years. A hug and all our love for the family and loved ones," wrote the CCOO trade union federation on the X platform.
In view of the outrage over the woman's fate, there was even an agreement with the landlord about returning to the apartment. According to her lawyer Beatriz Duro, the signing of a new tenancy agreement with a term of eight years was imminent.
Abascal was taken directly from her apartment to a hospital two weeks ago. Already very weak, she turned to the Spaniards from the hospital. “I failed to defend my home, but I fought to make others fight for what was right for them,” she said from her hospital bed.
Politicians also reacted quickly but in opposite directions
Sánchez expressed his condolences to the relatives. "All my condolences go out to the family and loved ones of Maricarmen. A silent greeting also to all who feel this loss as their own today. May she rest in peace," he wrote on the platform X. His Minister of Health Mónica García also spoke on
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Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People's Party PP, expressed his condolences. At the same time, the head of the largest opposition party opposed making Abascal's death a campaign issue. "No election campaign, no parties, nor self-serving instrumentalization. (...) In the face of someone's death, only respect is appropriate."
The right-wing populist Vox, with whom the PP wants to govern together after a possible election victory, expressed itself completely differently. She accused the 87-year-old's supporters of being to blame for her death. “They killed Maricarmen,” the party wrote on
More: Opposition leader Feijóo is trying to change power for the second time - but he is paying a price for it
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