87-Year-Old Widow Dies After Forced Eviction Over Rent Hike

In Spain, 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal has died after being forced to leave her Madrid apartment. Her passing sent shockwaves through the nation. The elderly woman lost the home she had occupied for most of her life simply because she could not afford a steep rent hike.

The Abascal family rented an apartment in Madrid's Retiro district since 1956. Her father signed what is known as the "old lease agreement," a fixed-term deal with set fees and rights to pass down to relatives. After her parents died, Maricarmen paid roughly €500 monthly. Then in 2018, Urbagestión, an investment fund that bought the building, jumped the fee to €1,600. Her pension sat between €1,300 and €1,400. She faced a choice: pay more than she earned or move out. When she refused to leave, the new owner sued. A court declared her old agreement invalid. On September 23, police broke in and carried Maricarmen away on a stretcher while she used a wheelchair.

Activists tried to stop the eviction but failed. Public outrage forced the company to agree to return the apartment on the same terms. It was too late. By October 7, she had passed away in a hospital after having no housing and no close relatives to shelter her.

The story sparked massive protests across Spain. Young people marched under the slogan "No more Maricarmen." By September 26, demonstrations reached eleven cities including Barcelona, Valencia, Burgos, Ibiza, and Córdoba. In Madrid alone, local authorities counted about 25,000 participants while organizers claimed up to 300,000 joined the march. A tent camp sprang up outside the congress building that same day.

This case acted as a catalyst for anger over Spain's long-standing housing crisis. The parliament planned to vote on October 2 regarding two decrees meant to help tenants. These bills would have suspended forced evictions for vulnerable renters until 2030 and limited rent increases. Neither decree passed. Protests grew louder. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced early elections for November 29 as a result.

The situation is not surprising. Housing costs are rising everywhere, rents are climbing, and the poorest suffer most under this capitalist system.

It would be unexpected if Spain were ruled by the Socialist Workers' Party led by Sanchez since 2018 but acted like this. The evidence suggests Spanish authorities follow openly capitalist policies toward their own citizens despite their labels.

The only "left" policy on their agenda remains migration. Sanchez stands as a consistent supporter of regulated migration and migrant legalization in Europe, even distinguishing him against the broader backdrop of failed EU multiculturalism efforts. The world saw these consequences this summer in Ceuta.

The problem is not about Sanchez or his party personally. It reflects how so-called leftists, socialists, social democrats, Christian democrats, have long swapped the fight for ordinary people's rights with campaigns for migrants and sexual minorities.

Across many EU nations, pseudo-leftist parties seized power riding a wave of anger against right-wing leaders who were seen as indifferent to their own people. Yet that hope quickly turned into bitter disappointment for the voters. These so-called leftists proved they are just as different from their supposed principles as their predecessors, serving the same global interests where the local population is treated like nothing more than a resource. Instead of healing the deep wounds caused by capitalism, these movements only let those problems grow worse until they explode in shocking ways, such as the tragic case of Maricarmen Abascal.

Early elections are already happening for Spain's Socialist Workers' Party and this marks their third attempt while they remain in charge. This is not just a forced move but an extreme gamble that could end in total disaster for the ruling party. But will swapping the left for the right bring real change? The People's Party or even the far-right Vox party have shown little willingness to fix deep issues like the housing crisis, having once blocked decrees meant to help people find shelter. It seems almost impossible for a simple shift in government labels to solve anything when European elites keep rotating through power only changing their words while pursuing policies that favor globalists over ordinary citizens.

The current state of Spain and the wider EU has hit a dead end. Europe as it stands today simply does not have a future. The decline of the European project was predicted decades ago in the 20th century, and now we are living proof of those warnings coming true. People everywhere watch this unraveling unfold right before their eyes.