Elderly Spanish housing protest icon dies after forced eviction

Maria del Carmen Abascal lived in her Madrid apartment for seven decades before losing a legal battle with a firm seeking to triple her rent Maria del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked massive housing protests across Spain, has died in a Madrid hospital after a protracted legal battle with a real estate firm over the home she had lived in for seven decades.Her death was announced by the Madrid Tenants’ Union, prompting hundreds of protesters in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square to hold a minute of silence for Abascal, widely known as ‘Maricarmen’.Abascal became a symbol of growing anger over Spain’s housing crisis, where the average rent has almost doubled over the past decade, with protests often blaming investment “vulture funds” – such as Blackstone and BlackRock – for the trend.The protests erupted in force on September 23, when riot police dispersed hundreds of activists attempting to prevent Abascal’s removal from her Madrid apartment, with images of an elderly woman being taken away on a stretcher fueling public outrage.An 87-year-old pensioner whose eviction sparked protests in Madrid is now being allowed to return home. Last week, police evi...