Maricarmen dies at 87 after eviction sparked Spain housing protests

Maria del Carmen Abascal, known across Spain as Maricarmen, has died at the age of 87. Her eviction last September from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for seven decades helped ignite a nationwide movement against soaring housing costs and tenant insecurity. The Madrid Tenants’ Union confirmed her death, which came after she was hospitalised following her removal on a stretcher from the home she had occupied since childhood.

Eviction fueled nationwide movement

Maricarmen’s eviction occurred on September 23 after an international investment fund purchased her building and raised the rent by more than 200 percent, to roughly $1,880 per month. The move was widely seen as an attempt to push out long-term tenants to make way for tourist apartments. After she was carried out, the Madrid Tenants’ Union organised protests and encampments in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square. Tens of thousands of demonstrators joined, and the protests spread to dozens of other cities across Spain.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered his condolences on X. “All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones,” he wrote. He added: “A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today.”

The housing crisis has become a central political issue ahead of a snap election called for November 29. On Wednesday, Spain’s two largest trade unions, the Workers’ General Union (UGT) and Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), announced a nationwide general strike over housing for November 11. The date still needs ratification by other unions, but if it goes ahead it would be the first general strike jointly backed by the two unions in 14 years.

Valeria Racu, a spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, underlined the economic strain. “We cannot ignore the fact that housing is where most of our wages go. What is the point of raising the minimum wage if housing costs are rising three, four or five times faster?” she said.

Spain faces a deficit of about 750,000 homes, a figure expected to exceed one million by 2028, according to the Bank of Spain. The average rental price of 1,176 euros ($1,315) equals about 98.7 percent of a young person’s average monthly salary, according to the Youth Council of Spain. Last week the government failed to pass emergency measures to tackle the crisis, prompting Sanchez to call the early election.

Sanchez, 54, has been in power since 2018 but trails conservative Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo in opinion polls. Feijoo’s party finished first in the 2023 general election but could not form a government. Polls suggest he will again need support from the far-right Vox party, led by Santiago Abascal, to govern.