Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has expressed condolences following the reported death of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protests

Maricarmen, 87, waits at home for police to arrive before being evicted from the home where she lived in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (Fernando Sánchez/Europa Press via AP)

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday expressed his condolences after the reported of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction sparked nationwide protests.

Maricarmen, as she was known, had been hospitalized since she was carried out on a stretcher from the apartment where she had lived for seven decades.

Her case has drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets in outrage and led the prime minister to call for early elections after failing to pass measures to address the country’s housing crisis.

Demonstrators sit next to their tents after spending the night camping during a protest demanding stronger protections for renters following last week's eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen, in Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Police officers use police batons to disperse far-left Catalan separatists trying to disrupt a rally by a far-right Catalan separatist party in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)