Imagine being 87 years old, being forced from your home on a stretcher, spending the next two weeks in hospital and then dying before you ever get the chance to walk back through your own front door. For Maricarmen Abascal, that is how the story has ended.

The 87-year-old Madrid pensioner has passed away today, Wednesday, October 7, after spending almost two weeks in hospital following her eviction from the home where she had lived for around 70 years. Her death has now sent shockwaves through Spain, with the woman at the centre of one of the country’s biggest housing protests becoming, in death, an even more powerful symbol of the crisis.

Maricarmen had already made headlines

Maricarmen had already become familiar to many readers following the dramatic scenes surrounding her eviction. Euro Weekly News previously reported on her removal from her Madrid home, after years of legal arguments over the property and her tenancy. 

A few days later came the extraordinary news that an agreement had been reached which would have allowed her to return home under a new eight-year rental contract. At the time, it looked as though the story might finally have a happy ending, but it never happened.

From eviction victim to symbol of Spain’s housing crisis

Maricarmen remained in hospital and never made it back to the flat she had called home for most of her life. The Madrid Tenants’ Union confirmed her death on Wednesday, saying the agreement allowing her to return had simply come too late.

Her case had already grown far beyond one elderly woman and one apartment. Following the eviction, supporters established a protest camp in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, while demonstrations spread to other Spanish cities. Her name became closely associated with anger over rents, evictions and the difficulties faced by people who simply cannot afford somewhere else to live.

Now the anger has intensified

Now, following news of her death, the anger has intensified. Thousands of protesters gathered in Madrid on Wednesday evening, with some chanting “This is not a death. It’s a murder!” The cause of Maricarmen’s death, however, has not been publicly established.

That has not stopped the blame. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has himself been drawn into the row. Maricarmen had previously named Sánchez when asked who she held responsible for what was happening to her, although she also went on to criticise Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida and the investment company involved in her eviction.

Pedro Sánchez comes under fire

Following her death, Sánchez offered his condolences to her family, describing the loss as one felt by many. For some of those protesting, however, condolences are not enough.

Her lawyer Beatriz Duro has said there are people responsible for what happened and that, had the eviction been suspended, she believes Maricarmen might still be alive. Duro has described the deterioration in her client’s condition following the eviction and said Maricarmen died still hoping to return home.

Her death has become part of a bigger fight

That accusation is now sitting alongside a much bigger political argument. The protests over Maricarmen’s eviction have become part of the wider housing crisis engulfing Spain, with pressure on the government to do more to protect vulnerable tenants.

Parliament’s recent rejection of housing measures has also become part of the political fallout, with Sánchez now having called an early general election for November 29. Maricarmen’s story has therefore gone from one woman’s fight to remain in her home to something much larger, but ultimately, all she wanted was to go home.