MADRID, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Thousands of Spaniards marched through central Madrid on Thursday to mark the death of the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her home ignited protests across the country and led to a snap election next month.
Maricarmen Abascal, who died on Wednesday, had been hospitalised for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23. No cause of death has been announced.
Protests over home shortages and surging rents following her eviction prompted Socialist Prime
Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap general election for November 29 after parliament rejected his government's proposals to address a mounting housing crisis.
As the sun set in Madrid, thousands followed a line of Tenants Union members, dressed in orange vests and walking arm-in-arm, as they carried a wreath of flowers from a protest camp in central Puerta del Sol square to Abascal's former home near Retiro Park.
"They're not deaths; they're murders," the protesters chanted.
Several people who received eviction orders have died by suicide in Spain in recent months.
Political leaders on Thursday traded blame and invoked Abascal's case in attacks on opponents.
Left-leaning parties criticised conservatives who rejected legislation in parliament aimed at curbing soaring rental prices. Right-wingers said the leftist central government had been unable to tackle the crisis after eight years in power.
Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, leader of the conservative opposition People's Party (PP), accused Sanchez and the Socialists of trying to exploit the housing crisis for political gain before the election.
"We will not allow this attempt to manipulate the emotions of the Spanish people; all of this has happened during their eight years in government. It won’t fly," Feijoo said.
In the Madrid regional assembly, opposition leader Manuela Bergerot of the leftist Mas Madrid party said Maricarmen — as she has become known across Spain — had died because of "miserable people who put gain above a person's life."
She said the last thing Madrid regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso had done while Maricarmen was alive was "laugh at her" — a reference to Ayuso's quip on September 28: "At what age do I get to stop paying my landlords? Let me know."
Ayuso blamed Sanchez, saying Maricarmen had been evicted under his government.
PROTESTERS BLAME 'GREEDY' LANDLORDS
News of the octogenarian's death enraged protesters camped on squares in Spain's main cities who chanted that she had been "murdered" because of the greed of her landlords.
After an investment fund purchased the building where she had lived for more than 70 years, Abascal lost a lengthy legal battle against rent increases far beyond her pension income, leading to her eviction. While in hospital, she reached a deal to regain her home but she died before she could return.
"When everything is private, we will be deprived of everything," said a placard on Puerta del Sol square, where mourners lit candles and left flowers honouring Maricarmen.
Outside Abascal's building, mourners left flowers, candles, handwritten notes and children's drawings.
"Maricarmen was the straw that broke the camel's back... (she was) a symbol of resistance and unity," said Alex Marinero, a 21-year-old protester.
Tributes to Abascal in the Madrid region's legislature also caused arguments as lawmakers accused each other of cynically exploiting the case.
The PP, which has absolute majorities in the Madrid regional and local assemblies, refused to hold a minute of silence honouring her.
Instead, hard-left deputies staged one outside City Hall and gave Abascal a 60-second standing ovation during a tense debate in the regional assembly, while PP lawmakers remained seated with folded arms.
A survey carried out in June and published by state pollster CIS on Thursday found 76.3% of Spaniards supported intervention in the market to guarantee access to housing, while 79% believe the right to housing should take precedence over treating homes as a market commodity.
Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo said addressing the housing crisis would require greater commitment from all levels of government.
He said his office was preparing a housing report and reiterated proposals including expanding public housing, restricting tourist rentals, increasing rent assistance and strengthening protections against evictions for vulnerable households.
(Reporting by David Latona, Michael Francis Gore and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Charlie Devereux and Cynthia Osterman)
