How One Woman's Eviction in Madrid Led to Protests and an Early Spanish Election

Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her Madrid home set off nationwide protests over Spain's housing crisis, has died, Madrid's tenants' union announced on Wednesday. No cause of death was given, according to The Independent.

Her case has fed a political crisis. Unions announced a nationwide general strike over housing for November 11, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called an early election for November 29.

How the case unfolded

• 1956: Abascal's father first rented the apartment, the BBC reported. She stayed on as the tenant after her parents died, at a time when rent was capped.
• Rent increase: The BBC reported that a legal glitch let the landlord, the investment company Urbagestión, raise her rent from €500 to €2,650. It was later lowered to €1,650, still €300 more than her monthly pension.
• Earlier attempts: Courts blocked three previous attempts to evict her, according to the BBC.
• September 23: Police and social workers removed her on a stretcher from the home where she had lived for more than 70 years. She has been in hospital since.
• Afterward: The company agreed to let her return. The BBC said the offer came with a lower rent, but she could not sign because she was in hospital. The Independent reported that her lawyer said she was happy with the deal.
• Last week: Spain's Congress rejected emergency decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures.
• Weekend: The BBC reported that tens of thousands of people marched in cities across the country.
• Monday: Sánchez called the early election for November 29.
• Wednesday: The tenants' union announced her death, and unions called the general strike.

Reaction to her death

After the announcement, thousands marched from Madrid's Puerta del Sol toward parliament, according to The Independent. Protesters there have kept an encampment for about two weeks, the BBC said.

The tenants' union said the agreement that would have let her go home had come too late and called the situation avoidable. It said her case marked a turning point in the country's history but that the cost had been too high. It added that it would honor her request to keep fighting for what is theirs.

Sánchez said on X that he sent his love to her family and loved ones. Territorial policy minister Ángel Víctor Torres said she had become a symbol of what many families face as older and younger people struggle to get a home or keep one.

Why it matters: housing at the center of Spain's politics

The protests reflect anger over property shortages and rising rents. For tenants, the immediate question is whether any measures to limit evictions or rent increases will pass. The emergency decrees failed in Congress, and the election will now decide what the next government attempts.

The political right argued that the government's attempt to intervene in the housing market would have meant fewer homes for rent and higher prices, the BBC reported. Sánchez said he needs a broader progressive majority to overcome what he called the resistance of the elites.

The Independent reported that Sánchez is trying to shift attention from his government's handling of a migrant crisis in the North African enclave of Ceuta and corruption cases involving his Socialist Party and his family. The BBC noted that cost-of-living and immigration pressures have also hurt him. His leftist coalition does not hold a majority in parliament.

What happens next

The general strike is set for November 11, and voters go to the polls on November 29. According to the BBC, most opinion polls suggest the conservatives will be the largest party, though they would probably need the hard-right Vox party to form a government.

Sources: The Independent, BBC News