María del Carmen Abascal had spent most of her life quietly residing in the apartment her family had rented decades before in downtown Madrid MADRID -- MADRID (AP) — María del Carmen Abascal had spent most of her life quietly living in the apartment her family rented decades before in downtown Madrid. That was until her fight to avoid eviction transformed the 87-year-old into a symbol for millions of Spaniards who struggle to pay for housing. Abascal, known widely as Maricarmen, died suddenly on Wednesday two weeks after she was evicted.
Her death is set to reinvigorate the protest movement and further polarize Spain ahead of a national election next month when the housing issue will be central. Sympathizers with Maricarmen’s cause left candles, flowers and letters overnight at an impromptu shrine in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol, where around 1,000 people have camped for two weeks to protest Spain’s housing affordability crisis since Maricarmen’s eviction on Sept. 23 captured the nation's attention. On the door of her old home, a sixth-floor apartment near Madrid's Retiro park, a piece of paper was taped with the handwritten message “Rest in Peace Maricarmen," accompanied by the drawing of a black heart.
Many left more messages on the street outside. We will continue the struggle," read one of the messages. In Barcelona, a popular graffiti artist painted Maricarmen in angelic form, complete with halo, wings and a white toga.
She is holding a key up, apparently the key to the home she didn’t return to. But beyond the grief there was also rage, as well as a conviction that this wasn't over. Many protesters believe that Maricarmen's demise was caused by the eviction.
Thousands protested when police carried Maricarmen, who used a wheelchair, on a stretcher from her home of seven decades last month. She died in a hospital where she was taken, and her lawyer did not disclose a cause of death. One sign in Puerta de Sol read “These are not deaths, they are murders," echoing chants that rang out during a march toward the Parliament late Wednesday when news of her death spread.
Holgado said she and her partner could only afford a tiny, one-room apartment, and are paying dearly for it. The average rent for Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years, according to the real estate website Idealista. Similar protests and camp-ins have stayed active in Barcelona and other major cities.
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