Maricarmen Abascal: how a disabled, evicted 87-year-old woman became a political football in Spain’s upcoming election

By Dolors Palau-Sampio, Full Professor of Journalism, Universitat de València

In Spain, an average of 44 evictions are carried out every day. While statistics like this are shocking, numbers alone rarely spark a revolution. Mass protest movements instead tend to rally around one compelling individual story.

This was exactly what happened with 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who has become so famous that she is known in Spain as simply Maricarmen. Following an insurmountable rent hike and a lengthy legal battle, she was evicted from her Madrid…

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