Spain's far right slams Socialists for 'killing' Maricarmen

 

Spain's far right slams Socialists for 'killing' Maricarmen

 

The elderly woman's eviction sparked protests across Spain and prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap election for Nov. 29.

 

By Daria Zakharova

10/08/2026

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/08/spain-s-far-right-slams-socialists-for-killing-maricarmen

 

Spain’s far-right Vox party has blamed the Socialist government for the death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who became a symbol of the country’s housing crisis after being evicted from her Madrid apartment.

“They have killed Maricarmen,” Vox wrote on X Thursday. “Without any scruples, they have used an elderly person’s suffering to mount a campaign that hides the government’s responsibility for the housing crisis.”

Abascal died in hospital Wednesday evening. Her Sept 23. eviction from the Madrid apartment she had rented since 1956 sparked nationwide protests and put fresh pressure on embattled Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who subsequently announced a snap election for Nov. 29 when his conservative opponents blocked two proposed housing decrees.

“All my affection to Maricarmen's family and loved ones,” Sánchez wrote on X after her death was announced. “A hug also to everyone who today feels this loss as our own,“ he added.

The leader of the far-left Podemos, Ione Belarra, echoed Vox’s sentiment, saying the 87-year-old “had not died” but had been “murdered by the vultures who wanted to take her house, the justice system and the administrations that allowed it.”

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative People’s Party, meanwhile, called for “no campaign, no parties, no self-interested exploitation. No more stones in the wall,” in the wake of Abascal’s death. The PP previously accused Sánchez’s government of exploiting Abascal’s case for political gain.

Following significant public pressure, the real estate company which evicted Abascal reached an agreement that would have allowed her to return home, but Madrid’s Tenants’ Union said it “came too late.”

“The situation was entirely avoidable after such a torturous process,” the union said.