Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her Madrid apartment triggered mass protests over the nationwide housing crisis, has passed away, the Tenants’ Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas) said, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported.
“We regret to announce that Maricarmen passed away today. She was evicted on Sept 23 and had been in the hospital ever since. Although we managed to secure an agreement that would have allowed her to return home, the resolution came too late,” the union said in a statement on Wednesday.
Abascal was hospitalised on Sept 23, the day of her forced eviction from the apartment in Madrid, where her family had lived for decades.
Following one of the demonstrations, protesters set up a camp in Puerta del Sol square, which later became the centre of the protest movement.
Spain is now preparing for snap parliamentary elections, scheduled for Nov 29, after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the dissolution of the parliament. The snap elections were called after the Congress of Deputies, the parliament’s lower house, rejected two government decrees containing measures to tackle the housing crisis.
