María del Carmen Abascal, a Spanish retiree affectionately known as Maricarmen, passed away abruptly on Wednesday, following her recent eviction from her apartment. This event is expected to reignite the protest movement and deepen divisions in Spain as the country approaches a national election next month, where housing will be a key issue.
Supporters of Maricarmen’s cause left candles, flowers, and letters at a spontaneous memorial in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol, where about 1,000 individuals have been camping for two weeks to protest Spain’s housing affordability crisis since Maricarmen’s eviction on Sept. 23 garnered nationwide attention. A handwritten message saying “Rest in Peace Maricarmen” with a black heart drawing was affixed to the door of her former sixth-floor apartment near Madrid’s Retiro park, with many more messages left on the street outside.
In Barcelona, a renowned graffiti artist depicted Maricarmen, 87, as an angel, complete with halo, wings, and a white toga, holding a key, symbolizing the home she lost.
Numerous protesters believe that Maricarmen’s death was a result of her eviction. Thousands protested when Maricarmen, who relied on a wheelchair, was carried out on a stretcher from her residence of seven decades last month. She passed away in a hospital, and her cause of death was not disclosed by her lawyer.
Scheduled protests have been planned, with one sign at Puerta de Sol stating, “These are not deaths, they are murders,” echoing chants heard during a march towards the parliament following news of her passing.
“This will be remembered as a pivotal moment in political terms,” said analyst Alejandro Quiroga, a politics professor at Madrid’s Complutense University. “Her death completes the narrative that evictions and real estate speculation literally kill.”
Left-wing political members observed a minute of silence outside both the regional parliament and town hall of Madrid on Thursday, while right-wing politicians from the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox did not participate. Opposition leader Manuela Bergerot of the leftist Mas Madrid party accused those responsible for Maricarmen’s death of prioritizing profit over human life.
Right-wing parties have urged the government to disband the camp-in at Puerta del Sol using police force, a move the government has resisted so far. The Popular Party, holding regional and municipal governments, has long opposed efforts by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government to regulate rental prices, arguing that such regulations impede investment in much-needed new homes for Spain.
