The death of an 87-year-old woman evicted from the Madrid home where she had lived for decades has deepened Spain’s political turmoil. Nationwide protests over rapidly rising housing costs have already helped push the country toward an early election.
María del Carmen Abascal, widely known as “Maricarmen,” died Wednesday after being hospitalized following her eviction from the apartment she had occupied for 70 years, The Associated Press reported.
Her death came days after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a snap election for Nov. 29. His government had failed to secure parliamentary approval for emergency measures intended to address Spain’s housing crisis.
The case has placed fresh pressure on Sánchez’s Socialist Party as anger grows over soaring rents, limited housing supply and the increasingly difficult cost of finding an affordable home.
People rally in downtown Madrid, Spain, to honor the memory of Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, whose eviction from her home sparked nationwide protests Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Abascal was evicted on Sept. 23, an action that triggered widespread outrage after photographs showed the wheelchair user being carried out of her apartment on a stretcher.
Police sealed off the street and removed protesters who tried to prevent the eviction from taking place.
The images quickly spread across Spain, prompting demonstrations in Madrid and other cities and transforming Abascal into a powerful symbol of the nation’s housing emergency.
According to the AP, the real estate company behind the eviction planned to rent the apartment for considerably more than the previous rate.
A view of the door of the home from which Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted, sparking nationwide protests, with a sign reading “Rest in peace, Maricarmen,” in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026 (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Under growing public scrutiny, the company ultimately agreed to let Abascal return. She died before she was able to move back into the home.
Officials have not released her cause of death.
Following the announcement, protesters assembled outside Spain’s Parliament and at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, where some held a minute of silence in her memory.
The crowd also chanted, “Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!”
A woman places flowers in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, near the entrance to the building where Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from her home, sparking nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Sánchez expressed his condolences in a message posted on X.
“All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones,” he wrote. “A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today. Rest in peace.”
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the conservative opposition leader, also offered condolences while warning politicians against exploiting Abascal’s death for electoral purposes.
“No campaign, no party, no use for political advantage,” he wrote. “When faced with the death of a person, we must only show respect.”
As Spain heads toward its November election, Abascal’s eviction and death have become a central cause for housing activists seeking major reforms to the country’s rental policies.