Death of 87-year-old Maricarmen is reenergizing Spain's protests to stop evictions

MADRID (AP) — María del Carmen Abascal had spent most of her life living quietly in the apartment her family began renting decades ago in downtown Madrid. That was until her fight to avoid eviction transformed the 87-year-old into a symbol for millions of Spaniards who struggle to afford housing.

Abascal, known widely as Maricarmen, died suddenly on Wednesday, two weeks after she was evicted. Her death is reinvigorating housing protests and threatens to further polarize Spain ahead of a national election next month when the housing issue will be central.

Sympathizers with Maricarmen’s cause left candles, flowers and letters overnight at an impromptu shrine in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol, where around 1,000 people have camped to protest Spain’s housing affordability crisis since Maricarmen’s eviction on Sept. 23 captured the nation's attention.

On the door of her old home, a sixth-floor apartment near Madrid's Retiro park, a piece of paper was taped with the handwritten message “Rest in Peace Maricarmen," accompanied by the drawing of a black heart. Many left messages on the street outside.

“Your death won’t be in vain. We will continue the struggle," read one of the messages.

In Barcelona, a popular graffiti artist painted Maricarmen in angelic form, complete with halo, wings and a white toga. She is holding a key, apparently the key to the home she didn’t return to, though it recalled traditional images of St. Peter holding the keys to paradise.

But beyond the grief there was also rage, as well as a conviction that this wasn't over.

Many protesters believe that Maricarmen's demise was caused by the strain of the eviction. Thousands protested when police carried Maricarmen, who used a wheelchair, on a stretcher from her home of seven decades last month. She died in the hospital, and her lawyer did not disclose a cause of death.

One sign in Puerta del Sol read “These are not deaths, they are murders," echoing chants that rang out during a march toward the Parliament late Wednesday when news of her death spread.

“She was the flame that led us to start this camp-in and protest,” 28-year-old receptionist María Holgado said outside her tent on Thursday. “Her death shocked us and left us all incredibly sad, but I believe it will give us more energy and conviction to keep protesting and demanding our rights so that there is not one more murder."

“The blame falls on the property owners and vulture funds that are taking advantage of a basic right and making loads of money from it," she added.

Holgado said she and her partner could only afford a tiny apartment, and are paying dearly for it. Her case is typical. The average rent for Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years, according to the real estate website Idealista.

Similar protests and camp-ins have stayed active in Barcelona and other major cities. The main organizers of the protests, Madrid's Tenants Union, have called for another march Thursday. Protesters also plan a show of force Nov. 11, when labor unions have called a general strike two weeks ahead of the election.

The televised images of Maricarmen being taken from her home last month shook Spanish politics to the core.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez first tried to push through emergency housing measures to stop evictions and curb real estate speculation. When right-wing parties aligned to stop the legislation in Parliament, Sánchez doubled down by calling snap elections. He then reissued similar decrees that are set to be ratified by a small, interim Parliament.

Sánchez, who is hoping to use the housing question to galvanize progressives for the Nov. 29 election, was quick to send his condolences to Maricarmen’s family and friends on social media.

To stay in power, Sánchez will likely need to maintain the current coalition between his Socialists and a smaller party further to the left. They have been trailing the right-wing parties in polls.

Analyst Alejandro Quiroga, a politics professor at Madrid’s Complutense University, said the tragedy of Maricarmen should mobilize progressive voters, especially those supporting Sánchez’s current coalition partner, Sumar. The party, which has long pushed for stronger housing regulations, is changing its name to Frente Amplio, which means Broad Front, an effort to urge all parties to the left of Sánchez's Socialists to get on one ticket.

“In political terms, this will be remembered as a milestone,” Quiroga told The Associated Press. “Her death completes the narrative that evictions and real estate speculation literally kill.”

On Thursday, members of left-wing parties held a minute of silence outside both the regional parliament and town hall of Madrid. Politicians of the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox did not participate in either. The right-wing parties have repeatedly called on the government to send in police to break up the camp-in in Puerta del Sol. The government has refused.

The regional and municipal governments held by the Popular Party have for years pushed back against attempts by Sánchez's government to regulate rental costs. The Popular Party argues that regulation hurts investment when Spain needs hundreds of thousands of new homes.

Madrid’s conservative mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida accused Sánchez of politicizing Maricarmen’s death.

“My condolences? Yes. Participating in Sánchez’s campaign for Nov. 29? No,” the mayor said.

Protesters gather after the reported death of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protests, in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, early Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A view of the door of the home from which Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted, sparking nationwide protests, with a sign reading "Rest in peace, Maricarmen", in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman places flowers in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, near the entrance to the building where Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from her home, sparking nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A bouquet of flowers hangs in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, on a door at the entrance to the building where Maria del Carmen Abascal, 87, was evicted from her home, sparking nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Protesters gather after the reported death of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protests, in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — U.S. pressure on NATO allies to increase their defense spending “is not a hostile thing,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, but reiterated that the Trump administration wants the military alliance to be a stronger deterrent against threats.

Rubio told reporters during a visit to European NATO ally Portugal that “the stronger the members of NATO are, the stronger NATO is, the stronger the alliances and the stronger the deterrence is.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has long railed against NATO allies for spending too small a fraction of their national budgets on defense, leaving the United States to shoulder what he says is an unfair burden. Some members of the 32-country alliance have been reluctant to divert funds from other government policies, however.

“People sometimes view this call to invest more in defense as a hostile thing,” Rubio said. “It is not a hostile thing.”

Rubio, who was in Portugal on the last leg of a three-nation tour of NATO allies that also included Iceland and Greece, acknowledged that some smaller NATO members, such as Portugal, have difficulty finding the funds for major military projects.

“Every country is of a different size and proportion. Some countries can contribute more than others, but every country in NATO needs to be as strong as they can possibly be,” Rubio told a news conference in Lisbon.

He noted the danger of the war in Ukraine, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, spilling beyond Ukrainian borders. An apparent stalemate in Ukraine could bring a military escalation in Europe, he said.

“That escalation could wind up being a sabotage campaign in neighboring countries that are members of NATO,” he said. That could “quickly turn what is a war between two countries into a much broader and far more dangerous regional conflict.”

European officials have accused Moscow of a campaign of sabotage and disruption aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

Rubio also said that the Trump administration will keep trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement to the war, but that it has been difficult.

“We have tried, we will continue to try, but we’re also not going to invest in pointless processes if we can’t make progress,” he said, coming after new Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine killed 30 people.

Meanwhile, Rubio also praised Portuguese efforts toward meeting the NATO target for defense spending.

Portugal, a country of fewer than 11 million people, spends just over 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, according to NATO. The government says it plans to increase defense spending to around 3%, including dual-use investments in civilian infrastructure.

That still leaves it below the 5% of GDP set aside for defense spending that Trump has demanded and that requires investment at an unprecedented scale in Europe.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said at the news conference that his country views its relationship with the U.S. as “fundamental.”

Portugal provided support for American operations in the Iran war by allowing the U.S. to use the Lajes Field air base in the mid-Atlantic Azores islands, which is strategically located for military refueling flights.

The U.S. Air Force has long had a base there under an agreement with Portugal. Unlike neighboring Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist, refused to allow the American military to use Spanish bases to stage operations for attacks on Iran, Portugal’s center-right government granted Washington “conditional approval” to use Lajes Field.

“Portugal is a great ally, very cooperative ally of the United States and a country with which we already have a solid and growing relationship. And we visit these countries in order to reinforce those ties,” Rubio said before arriving in Lisbon. “That’s the purpose of the trip.”

Some Portuguese political parties balked at the decision to allow the U.S. to use the Azores islands air base, however. Following a formal complaint by a small left-wing political party called Left Bloc, the country’s attorney general’s office said last week that it's looking into whether the use of the Lajes Field base was lawful.

Rubio visited Portugal a day after delivering a speech in the Greek capital, Athens, urging European countries to save Western civilization by upholding the values and traditions of ancient Greece.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is greeted by Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at the Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is greeted by Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at the Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, meets with Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at the Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the press before boarding a plane at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport near Athens, Greece, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)