MADRID — Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday expressed his condolences after the reported death of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protests.
“All my love to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones,” Sánchez said in a post on X. “A hug as well to all of us who feel this loss as our own today.”
Maricarmen, as she was known, had been hospitalized since she was carried out on a stretcher from the apartment where she had lived for seven decades. She was expected to return home as soon as she might be discharged, after accepting a deal with the company that owned her apartment.
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Her case has drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets in outrage and led the prime minister to call for early elections after failing to pass measures to address the country’s housing crisis.
“Although a historic agreement was reached that would have allowed her to return to her home, this solution came too late,” the Madrid Tenant’s Union said in a statement Wednesday. “It was an entirely avoidable situation following a harrowing ordeal.”
Protesters who have been camped out in Madrid’s iconic Sol square held a minute of silence after hearing news of her passing.
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