'Stunned' Madrid mourns pensioner who sparked housing protests

MADRID: One of hundreds of housing protesters camping in central Madrid, Aitana Lopez felt duty-bound to pay tribute to a pensioner whose eviction sparked a movement that culminated in early elections.

The death of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal on Wednesday drove a "stunned" Lopez to lay a candle on Thursday at an improvised shrine in the Spanish capital's Puerta del Sol square, the epicentre of the protests.

"Thank you for everything, we will never forget you," read a message on the candle, which accompanied flowers and a placard calling Abascal "the grandmother of an entire country."

Abascal, who used a wheelchair, died in hospital two weeks after her eviction from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for 70 years.

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.

"She's the one who started all of this," Lopez told AFP, referring to the camps and demonstrations that have placed housing at the heart of a snap general election on Nov 29.

"At the very least, I wanted to come down, lay a candle... to make an appearance," said the 25-year-old, who studies fashion.

A small group of people huddled around the tribute in Sol on Thursday, some visibly moved, while tourists tried to navigate an obstacle course of tents and candles.

On Wednesday night, protesters in the square wept and embraced each other after learning the news. Hundreds marched towards parliament, some calling the death a "murder."

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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.

"She didn't have to die this way. Maricarmen wanted to die in her house," said Valeria Racu, a spokeswoman for the Madrid Tenants' Union, which supported Abascal in her years-long legal battle against the company.

Luis Rodriguez, 64, said it was "outrageous" that an elderly woman was kicked out of her home, calling her "yet another victim" of Spain's ruthless housing market.

"She represented the last straw" of popular anger at unaffordable housing, said Rodriguez, who has lived in Madrid all his life, describing real estate prices in Spain as "crazy."

Attempting to respond to the popular pressure, the left-wing government hastily agreed two decrees that included greater protections against evictions for vulnerable tenants and the automatic renewal of contracts.

But the minority coalition failed to pass the measures in parliament, prompting Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call the early vote on Monday.

For Juana Sotillos, a 68-year-old pensioner, Abascal "has been used as a political tool by one side and the other", saying Sanchez "has done nothing" on housing during his eight years in power.

Another march is scheduled for Thursday evening from Sol to Maricarmen's former home in the upmarket Retiro neighbourhood, where candles and flowers have also been left by mourners.

Tenants' unions have called for a national minute's silence at noon (1000 GMT) on Friday.