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Spanish pensioner whose eviction sparked nationwide protests dies, union says
On Tuesday, the Madrid Tenants' Union announced that 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal had died following her forced eviction from her Madrid home in September. The union called her case "a turning point in the history of this country."
Abascal had lived in Madrid's Retiro district for more than 70 years before her eviction on September 23. Her rent surged from $560 to $2,970, forcing her removal from the apartment.
Hospitalized since her eviction, Abascal remained unable to finalize a return agreement the property fund eventually offered at a lower rate. She died before the arrangement could be completed.
Her plight sparked nationwide protests over Spain's housing crisis, pressuring the government. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez consequently decided on Monday to call an early general election following mass demonstrations.
Abascal became a symbol for Spain's housing crisis, her case representing the broader struggle over rental regulations and tenant protections. The Madrid Tenants' Union continues demanding systemic policy changes nationwide.
Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose escape from the home where she had lived more than seven decades ago triggered a wave of protests in Spain, died on Wednesday, October 7.