According to media reports, Abascal passed away at Gregorio Marañón Hospital, where she had been for about two weeks after her eviction. The union announced this in a statement also signed by her family and lawyer. The organization noted that the historic agreement reached at the end of September, which would have allowed her to return to the apartment under a social rental agreement, "came too late." The cause of death was not immediately disclosed. According to media reports, Abascal had expressed a wish to die in the room where her parents had died. She had lived in an apartment in the Retiro district of Madrid since 1957, when she moved in at the age of 17. The regulated rent agreement was signed by her father, then passed to her mother, and after her mother's death in 2005, it went to Abascal herself. For many years, she paid around 500 euros per month. In 2018, the apartment was transferred to the company Urbagestión, which raised the rent to 2,650 euros and then lowered it to 1,650 euros. Abascal's pension was 1,350 euros, making it impossible for her to afford such an amount. The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled against her in March 2026. Previously, a lower court had sided with her in January 2022. On September 23, after four attempts at eviction, the 87-year-old woman, who moved in a wheelchair, left the apartment on a stretcher. She was given 30 minutes to gather her belongings. Footage of the eviction was shown on television, and thousands of people took to the streets in Madrid, Barcelona, and other cities. A protest camp was set up at Puerta del Sol. The human rights commissioner stated that this story highlights the shortcomings in protecting vulnerable individuals from eviction, and the government instructed the National Police to investigate the actions of around 200 officers involved in the operation. After the protests, the apartment owner agreed to her return under a new rental agreement. However, Abascal remained in the hospital and did not return home. On September 29, the government announced an agreement with parliamentary coalition partners on a bill aimed at protecting vulnerable tenants from eviction. According to El Nacional, the protests, the fall of government decrees in Congress, and the recent announcement of early elections by Pedro Sánchez are linked to this story. On Wednesday evening, hundreds of people marched to the Congress of Deputies building in Madrid. Several ministers and other officials expressed their condolences regarding her death.
