Maricarmen Abascal, 87, whose eviction sparked Spain's housing protests, has died

María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman known as Maricarmen whose eviction from her Madrid home sparked nationwide protests across Spain, has died, Reuters and The Associated Press reported. The AP said she died on Wednesday while hospitalized, two weeks after she was evicted. Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, confirmed the death to Cadena Ser radio but did not disclose the cause, and said that she and the activists were all devastated, according to the AP report carried by The Seattle Times. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 ]

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered condolences on X after housing activists and Abascal's lawyer announced her death. "All my love to Maricarmen's family and loved ones," Sánchez wrote. "A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today. Rest in peace." On Oct. 8, Reuters reported that Spanish politicians were trading blame after the death of the octogenarian at the heart of the housing protests. [ 4 , 5 , 7 ]

Protesters gathered near Spain's Parliament chanted "Maricarmen lives, the fight goes on!" Iciar López, a 32-year-old psychologist at the protest in Madrid, told the AP: "A great deal of sorrow. And above all, the thought that she is the cause, the head of this whole revolution that has happened, and that she can't see it." Sympathizers left candles, flowers and letters overnight at an impromptu shrine in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where around 1,000 people have camped for two weeks to protest Spain's housing affordability crisis since the eviction, the AP reported. On Oct. 8, a bouquet of flowers hung on a door at the entrance to the building from which she was evicted, and a sign on the door of the home read "Rest in peace, Maricarmen," according to AP photo captions. [ 4 , 6 ]

On Sept. 23, Maricarmen, who used a wheelchair, was carried on a stretcher from her home of seven decades after police cordoned off the street and removed protesters, and she was taken to a hospital because of her fragile health, the AP reported. Televised images of the eviction prompted thousands of people to protest in Madrid and other cities. The AP said she had spent most of her life in the apartment her family rented decades before in downtown Madrid, and that the eviction unleashed a political crisis. [ 4 , 6 ]

According to the AP, her death is set to reinvigorate the protest movement and further polarize Spain ahead of a national election next month in which the housing issue will be central. Spaniards increasingly frustrated by housing costs periodically march in major cities demanding action from lawmakers, the AP reported. [ 4 , 6 ]