Vulture funds begin to pick apart Maricarmen's corpse

Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman facing eviction in Madrid's Retiro district who became a symbol of Spain's housing crisis, has died. Her death has triggered a wave of political reactions ranging from Irene Montero's "this is not a death, it's a murder" to Pedro Sánchez's condolences.

The woman who for years held out in her home in Madrid's Retiro district has died at the age of 87. Maricarmen had become a recognizable face of Spain's housing drama: an elderly tenant who refused to leave the apartment she had lived in for decades. Her case went beyond the personal and entered the public debate. News of her death has triggered a cascade of political statements within hours.

## Irene Montero: "This is not a death, it's a murder"

Irene Montero, a candidate in Podemos' primaries for Prime Minister, was one of the first to react. On her X account she wrote: "This is not a death, it's a murder." The MEP added: "What damn rage. Thank you for fighting, Maricarmen." The phrase captures the tone of much of the left's reactions, which have directly linked her death to the difficulties she faced in keeping her home.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez opted for a more institutional message. He conveyed all his affection "to the family and loved ones" of the elderly woman and added: "A hug also to all those who today feel this loss as their own." Health Minister Mónica García wrote: "Rest in peace, Maricarmen. Your struggle awakened consciences across Spain and lit a fuse that will not go out."

## Podemos, IU and Más Madrid lash out at the "rentier vultures"

Podemos leader Javier Sánchez Serna went further in his message on X: "Let the rentier vultures who harassed her for years pay, let the mercenaries who have been publishing shit against an 87-year-old evicted woman pay, and let those who vote and govern to screw over the lives of the working class pay." He ended with the word "War" and a fire icon.

From Izquierda Unida, its federal coordinator Antonio Maíllo conveyed "all the affection and solidarity to her family and loved ones" and also "to everyone who accompanied her in her fight to stay living in what had been her home for more than 50 years." Maíllo stressed that "Maricarmen deserved to live her last years in peace and in her home" and lamented that "the solution arrived, but the time they took from her no one could give back."

Emilio Delgado, deputy spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Madrid Assembly, denounced that "real estate violence and the law of the strongest have cruelly strangled her final years." And he added: "May her example of struggle lead us to banish forever the scoundrels who put profit above rights and greed above the most basic humanity."

## Rufián, Alegría and Vidal-Quadras: from the outburst to political exploitation

ERC's spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, posted a cryptic message on X consisting only of an insult aimed at those responsible for Maricarmen's situation. Pilar Alegría, secretary general of the Socialists in Aragón, opted for a constructive tone: "Maricarmen's story must serve to change things. Her struggle is that of thousands of people demanding to live and age with dignity in their own home." The leader of the PSOE in Extremadura, Álvaro Sánchez Cotrina, added: "Maricarmen is gone, but the challenge to the society that built this country remains."

At the other extreme, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a founding member of Vox, focused on the left's responsibility: "The political exploitation of her case by a left incapable of solving the housing problem in eight years subjected her these days to emotions so intense that they killed her." And he finished with an ironic "Congratulations to those camped out in Sol." His message contrasts with the rest and points to a very different political reading: that of those who believe the case was instrumentalized.

## A symbol that transcends the individual case

Maricarmen's story is not an isolated episode. Spain has faced a housing crisis for years that hits elderly tenants with old contracts and low incomes especially hard. Evictions of older people in large cities have multiplied, and cases like that of this 87-year-old woman in Retiro have served to expose a reality that statistics capture coldly.

Maricarmen's death comes at a moment of high political tension. Housing has become one of the central axes of public debate, with proposals ranging from rent control to tax incentives for buying. Her death has added an emotional component to a discussion that was already at the center of the agenda. The political reactions prove it: each party has read the case through its own ideological framework, and few have resisted the temptation to turn it into a weapon.