87-Year-Old Dies After Eviction: Spain's Housing Crisis Pushes Sanchez to Center of Storm

Madrid — 87-year-old Maria del Carmen Avacal (nicknamed "Maricarmen"), who had lived in an apartment for seventy years, died in hospital on Wednesday. According to Al Jazeera, Avacal's death was confirmed by her lawyer, Beatriz Duro. Television footage showed police carrying Avacal out of the apartment on a stretcher; Al Jazeera reported that the owner intended to re-rent the unit at a higher price.

Avacal's death rapidly escalated a protest that had already lasted several weeks. Duro told Al Jazeera that the eviction amounted to "shameful violence" and pointed to its "impact on people's health." Although housing rights groups ultimately reached an agreement with the owner allowing Avacal to return home, they told Al Jazeera that, after the "exhausting ordeal," the agreement "came too late." Activists told Al Jazeera that Avacal's case "exposed the human cost behind soaring rents and aggressive evictions."

Data further outlines the scale of the crisis. Citing Spanish government figures, Al Jazeera noted that average rents in the country have nearly doubled over the past decade; more than a quarter of tenants devote roughly 40 percent of their income to housing and utilities — more than twice the EU average. When housing costs swallow nearly half of a household's income, the most vulnerable are the first to be pushed to the brink of eviction.

The political response unfolded swiftly. According to Al Jazeera, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted a message of condolence on social media, calling Avacal a "symbol" of tenants struggling through the affordability crisis, and wrote: "All my love to Maricarmen's family and loved ones … may she rest in peace." Protesters near parliament chanted: "Maricarmen lives on. The struggle continues!" Al Jazeera said a nationwide strike is planned for next month.

Sanchez himself is facing direct public pressure. Al Jazeera reported that the emergency housing measures he pushed failed to pass parliament, after which he immediately announced snap elections for November 29, hoping to channel public anger over housing into support for his Socialist Party. Conservative opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo also extended condolences to Avacal's family, called for "respect" from all sides, and warned against using her death to "seek political gain" — remarks also reported by Al Jazeera.

The battle of political gestures surrounding Avacal's death continues. Al Jazeera also noted that there is, for now, no independent public conclusion regarding her precise cause of death or any medical causal link to the eviction.