"She Put Her Body on the Line": Maricarmen, 87, Dies; Her Eviction Sparked Spain Housing Protests

The 87-year-old pensioner in Spain whose eviction from her lifelong home sparked nationwide protests has died. Maria del Carmen Abascal, better known as Maricarmen, died on Wednesday just hours before she was set to sign a new rental agreement. She was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment last month on a stretcher after the private investment company that owns the building hiked her rent. After massive public outcry, the landlord had agreed to allow her back into her apartment.

Independent Spanish journalist Maria Carrion says that although Maricarmen's story galvanized much of the country, evictions like hers are a daily occurrence" in Spain.

Rents have gone up 80% in the last 10 years, while salaries have not kept up," Carrion says. Young people cannot leave their homes. They cannot become independent or start families. And this is what people are trying to change from the street."