Spain Eviction-Crisis Figure Maricarmen Abascal Dies

Maricarmen Abascal, 87, died in hospital two weeks after being forcibly evicted from her Madrid home, where she had lived for more than 70 years. Her rent had been set to rise from €500 to €2,650, and she was carried out on a stretcher amid a confrontation involving police and supporters. Her eviction prompted nationwide protests and intensified a political crisis that led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call an early election. A later agreement reportedly would have allowed her to return home, but the tenants’ union said it came too late. The case became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, which also included a threatened mass eviction affecting about 50 people in Barcelona as the government renewed temporary protections for vulnerable tenants.