Belgium

Brussels, 8 October 2026. The Belgian press reported the death of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, as early as Wednesday evening and immediately erected her as a symbol. VRT NWS calls her the "symbol" of the Spanish housing crisis, known throughout "all of Europe" by her first name alone. La Libre Belgique and La Dernière Heure speak of an "octogenarian who became the symbol of the housing crisis" and a retiree "at the origin of the protest movement" in Spain.

The three media outlets rely on the statement from the Union of Tenants in Madrid, which announces that Maricarmen died on Wednesday and asserts that her struggle marked "a turning point in the history of this country". VRT specifies that she died at the Gregorio Marañón hospital in Madrid, where she had been taken after her eviction. The union regrets that a "historic" agreement allowing her to return home came too late, a situation that, after "an exhausting process", could have been avoided.

The Belgian account recalls the starting point: on 23 September, the elderly woman, who had been living in her apartment for over 70 years, was evacuated on a stretcher. According to VRT, an investment fund that had bought the building wanted to triple the rent. The photo of this octogenarian, who was disabled and had reduced mobility, provoked massive protests, which VRT says led to a "Maricarmen decree".

La Libre and DH, which pick up the same dispatch, directly link this eviction to "massive demonstrations" and, "finally", to early elections in Spain. The reading is therefore social before being partisan: housing appears as the cause of a political shock, without the provided articles detailing the campaign or the positions of the parties.

VRT emphasizes the human dimension of the outcome, with a retiree who had learned "more than a week ago" that she could return home, but "she was no longer able to enjoy it". It quotes the motto that the deceased allegedly left: "Fight, keep fighting for what is yours".