Maricarmen Abascal was forcibly removed from her Madrid home, where she had lived for seven decades, on a stretcher in September, sparking tense scenes outside and large-scale protests.
Those protests, along with parliament’s rejection last week of decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures, prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call an early election for 29 November.
She had been allowed to return to her long-time home, paying a similar rent under a new eight-year contract with the building’s owner following public outrage – however the Madrid’s Tenants’ Union confirmed her death on Wednesday.
Reacting to the news, the Spanish prime minister wrote on X that he sent: “All my affection to Maricarmen’s family and loved ones.
“A hug, too, to all of us who today feel this loss as our own. Rest in peace.”
Angel Victor Torres, Spain’s territorial policy minister, lamented the news, saying Maricarmen had become a symbol of what was happening to many families, elderly and young people struggling to obtain their own homes or stay in them.
Thousands of protesters have camped out on Madrid’s main square and in other Spanish cities in recent weeks, demanding new measures to protect tenants and curb the country’s acute housing crisis.
‘I’ve lived here for 71 years and I don’t want to leave’
Ms Abascal was given just 30 minutes to leave her home on 23 September, with only essential belongings, before she was forcibly removed from the building on a stretcher, accompanied by social services officials.
Ms Abascal, a wheelchair user, was driven away in an ambulance as supporters chanted “Murderers!” and “Maricarmen, you’re not alone!”
The apartment, in the capital’s affluent Retiro neighbourhood, had been acquired by an investment fund that wanted to sharply increase her rent.
“I’ve lived here for 71 years and I don’t want to leave,” Ms Abascal had told reporters on the eve of her eviction.
Her removal sparked tense scenes outside, where police forcibly removed demonstrators blocking the entrance.
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