Makeshift memorials crop up at several sites, while politicians exchange recriminations
María del Carmen Abascal, a Spanish pensioner known widely as Maricarmen, died suddenly on Wednesday, two weeks after she was evicted from her apartment.
asserted
she → crop → apartment
Her death is set to reinvigorate the protest movement and further polarize Spain ahead of a national election next month, in which housing will be a central issue.
asserted
housing → set → which
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 for two weeks to protest Spain's housing affordability crisis since Maricarmen's eviction on Sept. 23 captured the nation's attention.
asserted
eviction → leave → 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.
asserted
piece → tap → heart
Many left more messages on the street outside.
asserted
Many → leave → street
We will continue the struggle," read one of the messages.
asserted
one → continue → messages
In Barcelona, a popular graffiti artist painted Maricarmen, 87, in angelic form, complete with halo, wings and a white toga.
asserted
artist → paint → halo
She is holding a key up, apparently the key to the home she didn't return to.
asserted
she → hold → home
More protests scheduled
asserted
protests → schedule → ?
Many protesters believe that Maricarmen's demise was caused by the eviction.
asserted
demise → believe → eviction
Thousands protested when police carried Maricarmen, who used a wheelchair, on a stretcher from her home of seven decades last month.
asserted
who → protest → decades
She died in a hospital where she was taken, and her lawyer did not disclose a cause of death.
asserted
lawyer → die → death
One sign in Puerta de 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.
asserted
Holgado → read → 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.
asserted
it → shock → rights
"
"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.
asserted
she → fall → it
Maricarmen Abascal is shown taking part in a protest in Madrid on May 24 against the high cost of living.
uncertain
Abascal → show → living
Holgado said she and her partner could only afford a tiny, one-room apartment, and are paying dearly for it.
uncertain
she → say → it
The average rent for Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years, according to the real estate website Idealista.
uncertain
rent → double → website
Similar protests and camp-ins have stayed active in Barcelona and other major cities.
asserted
protests → stay → Barcelona
The main organizers of the protests, Madrid's Tenants Union, has called for another march on Thursday.
asserted
organizers → call → Thursday
The televised images of Maricarmen being taken from her home last month shook Spanish politics to the core.
asserted
Maricarmen → televise → core
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez first tried to push through emergency housing measures to stop evictions and curb real estate speculation.
asserted
Sánchez → try → speculation
When right-wing parties aligned to stop the legislation in parliament, Sánchez doubled down by calling snap elections earlier this week.
asserted
Sánchez → we → elections
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.
asserted
who → hop → media
The protest camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, with demonstrators demanding political action to halt evictions and address the housing crisis, is shown on Oct. 6.
asserted
camp → demand → Oct.
To stay in power, Sánchez will likely need to maintain the current coalition between his Socialists and a smaller party further to the left.
asserted
Sánchez → stay → left
They have been trailing the right-wing parties in polls.
asserted
They → trail → polls
"In political terms, this will be remembered as a milestone," analyst Alejandro Quiroga, a politics professor at Madrid's Complutense University, told The Associated Press.
asserted
Quiroga → remember → Press
"Her death completes the narrative that evictions and real estate speculation literally kill."
asserted
evictions → complete → narrative
On Thursday, members of left-wing parties held a minute of silence outside both the regional parliament and town hall of Madrid.
asserted
members → hold → Madrid
Right-wing politicians of the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox did not participate in either, some folding their arms.
asserted
some → participate → arms
Opposition leader Manuela Bergerot of the leftist Mas Madrid party said Maricarmen had died because of "miserable people who put gain above a person's life …
asserted
who → say → life
those responsible will carry that with them for their remaining days."
asserted
those → carry → days
She added that the last thing Madrid leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso of the Popular Party had done while Maricarmen was alive was "laugh at her."
asserted
Maricarmen → add → her
That was reference to when Ayuso quipped on Sept. 28: "At what age do I get to stop paying my landlords?
asserted
I → quip → landlords
Let me know."
asserted
me → let → ?
Spanish PM calls snap election amid mounting housing crisis
- Analysis
From riots to 'regularization,' U.K. and Spain show opposing attitudes to migrants
asserted
U.K. → call → migrants
Right-wing parties have repeatedly called on the government to send in police to break up the camp-in in Puerta del Sol.
asserted
parties → call → Sol
The government has thus far refused.
asserted
government → refuse → ?
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.
asserted
governments → hold → costs
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
