Maricarmen Abascal faced four eviction attempts, and the last one succeeded. It happened two weeks ago. The 87-year-old woman left her Retiro home in a wheelchair; she had lived there for almost her entire life. Once outside, she was helped onto a stretcher and taken to Gregorio Marañón Hospital. She died there on Wednesday.
© JUAN BARBOSA
It’s Friday night in Madrid. Walking down Preciados street towards Sol square, the tents and the huge banners announcing the protest encampment can already be seen some distance away. Suddenly, a voice cries out amid the crowds from an indeterminate spot on the street. It belongs to an old man with white hair, his nose and chin almost touching. His name is Héctor, he is Ecuadorian, he is going hoarse, and he deserves some credit for what he is attempting to do: standing next to the epicenter of Spain’s mass protests for decent housing, with a country convulsed and fed up with prohibitive prices and home evictions, Héctor is preaching the end of the world and urging people to return to God. “What do you think of what’s happening over there, in Sol?” the reporter asks, pointing to the packed square. Héctor, escorted by a woman named Noemí, approaches and whispers mysteriously: “The final times are always dangerous times. Uncivilized times.” He then asks Noemí to show the reporter some texts from Timothy. “The first thing people must do is repent and return to God,” he concludes. He says goodbye with a smile and goes back to his shouting.
© Jaime Villanueva
They came to Madrid to counterprogram one of Europe’s largest real estate fairs, The District. What they found was an 87-year-old woman who was about to be evicted from their home — and was, before their eyes. Around 200 housing activists from more than 20 countries across Europe decided to join the demonstrations against the eviction, and later joined a spontaneous encampment in front of the Madrid regional government headquarters at the historic Puerta del Sol plaza.
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