Sol campers march on Spain's Congress after Maricarmen's death

Sol campers march on Congress shouting "murderers!" after Maricarmen's death

The death of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman evicted from her home on Calle Alcalde Sainz de Baranda, has triggered an immediate reaction: the protesters camped at Puerta del Sol have marched to the area around the Congress of Deputies shouting "murderers!". A heavy police presence is preventing the demonstrators from getting through. The elderly woman, who had lived in that house for 71 years, was carried out on a stretcher on 23 September and taken to the Gregorio Marañón hospital, where she died this Wednesday, according to the Sindicato de Inquilinas (Tenants' Union).

From stretcher to hospital: the timeline of an eviction

Maricarmen's eviction led to the Puerta del Sol encampment. That day the eviction order was carried out despite protests from dozens of activists and neighbours, and the woman was taken to hospital because of her fragile health. Even after being admitted, she kept posting videos from her hospital bed calling on people to keep fighting for better housing.

The Sindicato de Inquilinas brought the case to public attention with the encampment. The demands have spread to other cities across Spain, with demonstrations and camps in squares that have put housing at the centre of public debate. "The cost of getting this far has been far too high", the union lamented in a statement.

Sánchez takes the decrees to the Permanent Fruta after Congress defeat

Pedro Sánchez tried to make political use of the housing protest by bringing two decrees before Congress. Their rejection, with the vote of Junts, triggered the early calling of elections for 29 November. The Socialist leader will now take the decrees to the Fruta Permanente (the congressional body that sits when Parliament is not in session), where his coalition's partners hold a majority, to use them in the election campaign.

The PSOE hopes the housing mobilisations will bring it some political gain, even though polls point to a comfortable majority for the PP and Vox. The BOE (official state gazette) has published the housing decrees the Government re-approved in Cabinet after they were voted down in Congress: they include 21 measures aimed at making renting and affordable buying easier, creating more housing supply, giving people peace of mind and stability, and fighting speculation.

What do you shout at an empty building?

The scene of the protest has raised doubts about how effective it was. Some argue that the demonstrators were shouting at an empty building, with hardly any cleaning or security staff inside. Another view holds that the protest was orchestrated and that the timing is suspicious. A third, more extreme line speculates that a martyr was sought for propaganda purposes, a hypothesis with no evidence to back it up.

There are also those who criticise the timing of the protest, pointing out that the same people demonstrating at Sol rushed back to the camp when the shops were emptying. The most optimistic estimate puts the campers at fewer than 200 people at night. These are lines of analysis, not proven facts.

What the Government has at stake with the election calendar

The early election called for 29 November has reshuffled the board. The PNV has urgently begun the process of choosing its candidates for the general election, to conclude on 17 October, with names such as Maribel Vaquero, Joseba Agirretxea, Idoia Sagastizabal, Amaia del Campo and Eneko Goia. Santiago Abascal has lashed out at Sánchez: "First he ruins the Spanish, then he insults them by buying their vote".

Housing has become the axis of public debate in the middle of the pre-campaign. The decrees, the encampments and Maricarmen's death are intertwined in a narrative that every player is trying to capitalise on. The exact point where the analysis stalls is the cause of death: there is no official confirmation beyond the union's statement, and the theories about euthanasia or the eviction as a direct cause lack any support.