Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman at the center of the nationwide protests in Spain due to her eviction from her Madrid home, has died, the local tenants’ union said.
“We are sorry to announce that Maricarmen passed away today,” the Madrid Tenants’ Union said in a statement, adding that Abascal’s cause marked “a turning point in the history of this country.”
Who is Abascal and how did she spark Spain’s protests?
Abascal was evicted from the home where she lived her whole life on a stretcher after the company owning the apartment drastically increased the rent.
She had been hospitalized after the eviction took place due to exhaustion as an agreement with her home’s owners was reached.
The Madrid Tenants’ Union said the solution came “too late,” labeling the ordeal “totally avoidable” and “torturous” for the 87-year-old.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent his condolences to Abascal’s family after learning of her death.
“I send hugs to all of those who mourn this loss as if it was their own,” Sanchez posted on his X account.
Voicing his sadness over Abascal’s death, Spanish Minister for Territorial Policy Angel Victor Torres said she symbolized the plight of many people struggling with the country’s housing crisis.
Spain’s unions call for general strike
Spain’s trade unions called on Wednesday for a nationwide general strike on November 11 over housing issues.
The UGT and CCOO unions urged the population to “mobilize for better salaries, for decent housing and for price controls in the face of inflation that undermines our purchasing power.”
The strike “is the response to the insatiable real estate greed that speculates with one of the public’s main rights, making access to a decent home practically impossible,”, they said in a statement.
The nationwide protests triggered by Abascal’s eviction and lawmakers’ rejection of housing reforms intended to help tenants led Sanchez to call for early elections on November 29.
Sanchez, of the Socialist Party, is looking for a shift in the public narrative after his government’s handling of the migrant crisis in Ceuta, as well as alleged corruption among his party’s ranks.
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Edited by: Sean Sinicם
Source: www.dw.com
