María del Carmen Abascal Martín, known as Maricarmen, died in Madrid at 87 after being evicted on September 23 from the apartment where she had lived since 1956. She had remained in hospital after leaving the property on a stretcher, and died before a later agreement could enable her return.¹

Accounts from across the political spectrum agree that her removal became a powerful symbol of Spain’s housing pressures. The Madrid Tenants’ Union said her death and the reaction to the eviction marked “a before and after in the history of this country,” while arguing that “the cost to get here was far too high.”¹ It called her an example of resistance and repeated the appeal it attributed to her: “Fight, keep fighting for what is yours.”¹

The account focused on the tenant movement links the case directly to a surge in demonstrations, including a large Madrid march and a protest camp at Puerta del Sol. It also frames the episode as evidence of a broader policy failure, noting that housing measures advanced by the left-wing government were later defeated in parliament and that unions called a November 11 general strike over wages, decent housing and prices.¹

A contrasting account provides more detail on the underlying legal and financial dispute. It says a real-estate company that bought the building challenged the validity of the longstanding lease, originally signed by Maricarmen’s father, and sought to recover the apartment. Her monthly income was about €1,400, while the company at one point sought €2,650 a month for her to remain, it reports.²

That account likewise acknowledges the public outrage and nationwide protests, but notes that representatives later negotiated a new lease limiting rent to 30% of her net income. The agreement arrived “too late,” according to Maricarmen’s family and the tenants’ union: she died before returning home.²