She was carried out on a stretcher by police from the apartment where she had lived for 71 years; from her hospital bed, she asked the Government to change the laws, before her heart gave out just two weeks later 💔🇪🇸🕊️
At 87, after being forcibly removed by police from the Madrid home where she had lived for more than seven decades, María del Carmen Abascal summoned her last reserves of strength to make an outcry that resonated throughout Spain. Admitted to a clinic with severe exhaustion after the eviction, MariCarmen recorded an emotional message addressed to the Government and society as a whole:
“I want what happened to me to help ensure it doesn’t happen to other people. I want it to encourage people to fight and to bring about changes to the laws”, she said, her voice strained. “I wasn’t able to defend my home, but I fought so that others could learn to fight for theirs”.
The elderly woman, who lived on a pension of 1,350 euros and had a 50% disability, saw the company managing the property reject every offer to negotiate and mediate in order to keep her tenancy. On September 23, 2026, police officers broke down the door of her home to carry out the eviction, forcing medical services to evacuate her on a stretcher.
From the hospital, MariCarmen formally called on the Prime Minister to approve an emergency decree-law that would categorically ban evictions of older people and people in vulnerable situations, while also driving a mass signature-gathering campaign.
Tragically, the emotional impact and sadness of losing her memories proved unbearable for her fragile health. Just 14 days after the eviction, MariCarmen died at Madrid’s Hospital Gregorio Marañón.
Her body could not withstand the injustice, but her message became the banner of a national movement that today demands that housing once again be a right and that no other older person suffer the same fate.
Rest in peace, MariCarmen. Your voice lives on in everyone fighting for a decent home. 🕊️💔