Maricarmen Abascal Dies After Madrid Eviction

Madrid’s Tenants Union said Wednesday that Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman whose eviction became a focus of housing protests in Spain, had died. The union said she had been hospitalized since she was forcibly removed from her Madrid home on September 23. No cause of death was reported. Abascal had lived in the apartment for decades. Reports say she was taken from the building on a stretcher and driven away in an ambulance after being given a short time to leave. Her removal drew demonstrators to the building, where police cleared people blocking the entrance. The union said a new lease agreement would have allowed Abascal to return to her home, but came too late. The reports do not establish the agreement’s final terms or when it was reached. The apartment’s owners had sought to end her tenancy, and coverage described a dispute over the rent. Available accounts give differing figures and do not establish a directly comparable before-and-after amount. Her eviction became a rallying point for protests over housing costs and tenant protections. The Tenants Union said demonstrations followed in Madrid and other Spanish cities, including encampments in public squares.