Maricarmen Abascal, whose eviction became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis, died in hospital on Wednesday, the Madrid Tenants’ Union said. She was 87.
Abascal was evicted from her Madrid apartment on Sept. 23 and carried out on a stretcher after the property company that owned the building sharply raised her rent.
Her case prompted large protests and increased pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government. The government proposed tenant protections, including tighter limits on evictions and automatic lease renewals, but parliament rejected the package last week.
Sánchez then called an early election for Nov. 29. The tenants’ union said it was a painful price for housing to become central to the political debate.
Abascal was hospitalised with exhaustion after the eviction. Although the union had reached an agreement with the property company that would have allowed her to return home, she did not make it back.