MADRID | The death of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal, known as Maricarmen, has intensified protests over Spain’s housing crisis after her eviction from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than seven decades became a national symbol of rising rents, evictions and housing insecurity.
Maricarmen died Wednesday at Gregorio Marañón Hospital, about two weeks after she was removed from her home in Madrid’s Retiro district on September 23. She had been taken to the hospital immediately after the eviction and remained there until her death. Reuters reported that she had been hospitalized with severe anxiety and exhaustion, while her lawyer said no official cause of death had been disclosed.
Her eviction followed a long-running dispute over the apartment, which had been her home for about 70 years. The property had been acquired by an investment company, and attempts to prevent her eviction had drawn support from the Madrid Tenants’ Union. Images of the elderly woman being carried from the building in a wheelchair on a stretcher prompted widespread public outrage and demonstrations in Madrid and other Spanish cities.
An agreement was later reached between Maricarmen’s representatives and the property company, with mediation by Madrid’s municipal housing authorities. Under the agreement, she would have been able to return to the apartment under a new eight-year lease, with rent capped at 30% of her net income. She died before she could return home.
The protests have since expanded into a broader movement demanding government action on housing. In Barcelona on October 5, thousands marched through the city demanding measures to make housing more affordable and calling for a general strike over the crisis. Barcelona’s municipal police estimated the crowd at about 20,000, while organizers put the figure at 120,000. The march was largely peaceful but was followed by clashes, fires and arrests. Authorities reported 13 arrests and 30 police officers with minor injuries.
Spain’s two largest trade unions, UGT and CCOO, have announced plans for a nationwide general strike on November 11 focused on the housing crisis. The action would come only weeks before Spain’s snap general election scheduled for November 29, placing housing policy at the center of the political debate.
The government has also sought emergency measures to address the crisis. Recent housing proposals have included stronger protections for tenants and measures aimed at increasing access to affordable housing, but efforts to secure parliamentary approval have faced opposition. Reuters reported that Spain could face a housing deficit of up to one million homes by 2028, reflecting years of insufficient construction alongside growing demand in major cities.
The crisis has deep roots. Spain experienced a severe housing and construction boom before the 2008 financial crisis, followed by a collapse in property prices and widespread foreclosures. In the years since, demand has increasingly concentrated in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, while short-term rentals, limited housing supply and investment in property have become central issues in the affordability debate. Reuters reported that Spain has one of the smallest social-housing stocks in the European Union, at about 1.7% of housing.
Eurostat’s latest data also show that housing costs remain a significant burden across Europe, particularly in cities, where housing expenses consume a larger share of household income. The agency defines housing-cost overburden as spending more than 40% of disposable household income on housing.
Maricarmen’s case has therefore moved beyond a single eviction. For housing activists, her story has become a symbol of the consequences of an increasingly unaffordable housing market, while Spain’s government and political parties now face mounting pressure to address the shortage of affordable homes and the growing insecurity of renters.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
- Venus L Peñaflor
