Tens of thousands of mourners marched through Madrid on Thursday in tribute to a Spanish pensioner whose eviction sparked national housing protests that culminated in the calling of early elections. The death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal on Wednesday produced tears and anger in the Spanish capital's emblematic Puerta del Sol square, the epicentre of the movement where hundreds are camping in protest. From Sol, where an improvised shrine of candles, flowers and placards lay on Thursday morning, demonstrators headed to Abascal's former home in the upmarket Retiro district around three kilometres (two miles) away.
"Maricarmen will be an icon of struggle. She has made us wake up and say 'enough'. We cannot put up with this situation any longer," Rosa Marin, a 48-year-old teacher, told AFP.
Abascal, who used a wheelchair, died in hospital two weeks after her eviction from the apartment where she had lived for 70 years. Read moreEvicted pensioner Maricarmen Abascal, heart of Spain's housing protests, dies Taken away on a stretcher after the real estate company that owned the flat drastically hiked the rent, she became the face of Spain's long-running housing crisis and the catalyst for nationwide protests. Maricarmen "was the last straw, she was able to cause all this", said photography teacher Anton Alexander, referring to the camps and demonstrations that have placed housing at the heart of the November 29 election.
"Ultimately, Maricarmen is a symbol. I hope this is a turning point," added Alexander. "I know I'm not going to buy a house, it overwhelms me." People of all ages joined the march, chanting slogans such as "they aren't deaths, they are murders".
A provisional estimate by the central government's delegation in the Madrid region put their number at 20,000. Marisol Gallo, 82, attended in solidarity with the younger generations whose average salary falls far short of the astronomical rents and purchase prices demanded for a flat in Madrid. "It's a disgrace, it's an injustice.
This struggle will continue," Gallo told AFP, hoping the protests would "bring change" and make the authorities "get their act together". Outside Maricarmen's former residence in Retiro, next to the popular UNESCO-listed park of the same name, the mourners applauded and left more flowers and candles before observing a silence. A deal had been reached with the real estate firm allowing Abascal to return home at a lower rent, but she ultimately spent her final days in hospital.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
