Maricarmen Abascal has once again addressed those who have supported her in recent days this Saturday. From the hospital, where she continues to be hospitalized after the eviction carried out this week, the woman of 87 years has encouraged participation in the demonstration called this afternoon in Madrid by the Tenants' Union. The march will begin at 6:30 PM at Puerta del Sol and will end in front of the Congress of Deputies.
In a video released by the Union, Maricarmen explained that she wanted to send a message both to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and to all the people who have mobilized for her case. "I want what has happened to me to serve so that it does not happen to other people," she pointed out. Her intention, she added, is that the impact generated by her eviction translates into legislative changes and does not remain solely as a specific response to her personal situation.
"I want it to serve to change the laws"
Maricarmen has insisted that her case should serve to promote a broader political response. "I want it to serve so that people fight to change the laws that have allowed my eviction," she stated. She then requested that the Council of Ministers scheduled for next Tuesday, September 29 approve the so-called "Maricarmen decree," a proposal developed by the tenants' movement with various measures against evictions and regarding the regulation of rents.
"This Tuesday the Maricarmen decree must be approved to take a first step to end this nonsense," she defended. The package proposed by the Tenants' Union includes, among other demands, structural measures against evictions, rent freezes, automatic renewal of certain contracts, and changes to the Urban Leasing Law. These are currently proposals from the collective and not measures approved by the Government.
A march from Sol to Congress
The mobilization this Saturday will depart from Puerta del Sol at 6:30 PM and will advance to the Congress of Deputies. The Tenants' Union has called for participation under the slogan "Not one more Maricarmen" and aims to use the case of the Madrid woman as a symbol of a broader claim regarding housing permanence and protection against evictions.
Maricarmen has expressly asked those who have accompanied her during these days to attend the protest and also support an online petition promoted by the Union. "If all of us unite, we will be able to achieve indefinite contracts. We will be able to achieve what we set out to do. That is what I expect from you," she concluded in the message disseminated this Saturday. The indefinite renewal of contracts is precisely one of the main demands included in the proposal presented this week by tenant organizations.
Continues hospitalized after the eviction
Maricarmen remains in the Gregorio Marañón Hospital, to which she was transferred after the eviction. Sources from the Tenants' Union indicated on Friday that she was doing well, although she continued hospitalized and undergoing medical tests. In her first message from the hospital, she had already thanked for the support received and had asked to maintain the mobilization: "It couldn't be, but please fight."
The woman had lived for 71 years in the same house in Madrid before the eviction was carried out this week. Her case has reopened the political debate on tenant protection, the distribution of competencies among administrations, and the reforms that could be introduced in state housing legislation. The protest this afternoon seeks to bring that discussion to the streets and then to Congress, where any legislative modification of state scope must have parliamentary support.