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Spanish Pensioner Whose Eviction Triggered Protests Dies, Union Says

Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old Spanish pensioner whose forced eviction from an apartment she had lived in for more than seven decades helped ignite nationwide protests, has died, according to a union involved in the case. Her removal on a stretcher in September became a potent symbol of Spain’s housing crisis and the political anger it has generated. The case drew attention to the widening gap between rising rents, limited tenant protections and the vulnerability of older residents on fixed incomes, placing fresh pressure on authorities already facing public frustration over housing affordability.