Spanish pensioner evicted amid housing protests dies

An 87-year-old woman whose forced eviction from her Madrid flat triggered nationwide protests over Spain's housing crisis has died, according to the Madrid Tenants' Union.

Maricarmen Abascal was removed on a stretcher from the apartment she had lived in for more than 70 years on 23 September, after she was unable to keep up with rent increases.

The company that owned the property later offered to let her return at a reduced rent, but she was unable to sign the agreement because she had been hospitalised.

The Madrid Tenants' Union announced her death in a statement, describing her case as a turning point in the country's history. A union spokesperson said that speculation in the housing market had cost lives, and that profiteering from rents had ultimately led to her death, though her memory would remain with the movement.

News of her death was met with a collective gasp and a minute of silence in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, where protesters have been camping since her eviction last month to demand more affordable housing.