The Plenary of the Madrid City Council voted this Tuesday against the placement of a plaque in memory of Maricarmen Abascal. The initiative was rejected with the votes of PP, Vox, and the non-attached councilors, who argued that her figure has been used for partisan purposes.
The proposal, presented by the Socialist Municipal Group, aimed for "Maricarmen not to fall into oblivion" through a commemorative plaque at the height of number 46 on Alcalde Sainz de Baranda street, the building where she lived for 70 years and from which she was evicted a few weeks before passing away at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital. Only the PSOE supported the text, while Más Madrid opted for abstention.
The socialist councilor Emilia Martínez defended that her life trajectory "has moved everyone" and that she deserves "a permanent place" in the city. She proposed that the recognition be articulated through a participatory process in Decide Madrid, in which neighbors, neighborhood associations, and the tenants' union could participate.
"We want the tribute to come from those who knew her best (...) It does not intend to turn a plaque into a partisan debate, but to recognize a neighbor because her story represents Madrid (...) A plaque cannot repair what happened, but it can preserve her memory," emphasized the PSOE councilor.
In response, the delegate for Culture, Tourism, and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, assured that Maricarmen has become a "symbol" but "of how far one can use without mercy, sometimes even without decorum, the misfortune of a person to gain political advantage."
Rivera de la Cruz also claimed the City Council's action in this matter, emphasizing that at the time, an alternative housing suitable to her circumstances was offered and that the City Council intervened, when requested, to facilitate her return to her home.
"They used Mari Carmen when she was alive; I believe it is not good to allow them to continue using her now that she is no longer," concluded the Culture official.
In the debate, the non-attached councilor Ignacio Ansaldo described the initiative as "an insult to intelligence" and questioned "what has Maricarmen done" for the citizens of Madrid. "They have used her for convenience," he added before stating that the deceased was "a freeloader."
In similar terms, the also non-affiliated councilor Javier Ortega Smith has stated that Maricarmen was "nothing more than an instrument" of the left to "divert attention" from the judicial proceedings affecting the environment of the central Government.
For his part, the Vox councilor Fernando Martínez Vidal has defended that respect for a deceased person "is not incompatible with the obligation to unveil a great lie" and has accused the left of having used "this 86-year-old woman to do politics."
"She has given name to two decrees, a demonstration, an illegal camp at Puerta del Sol and now they want a plaque. The only thing they forgot to give this woman was a solution. And the only ones who took care of her were the Madrid City Council and the Municipal Housing and Land Company," he has assured, to conclude that Maricarmen "was not a victim of anything, less of speculators who traffic with housing."
In the turn of Más Madrid, councilor Nacho Murgui has held the City Council responsible for not having intervened effectively in the case of Maricarmen until the moment of the eviction. "It was a political decision of theirs," he reproached addressing the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida.
Murgui has also highlighted the ability of Maricarmen's story to awaken consciences among "the workers" who have said "enough is enough" and have called for a general strike, as well as to contribute to "putting an end to the mandate of an exhausted Parliament that is incapable of responding to the needs of the social majority."
Finally, the Más Madrid councilor has censured the PSOE for not having previously negotiated the initiative with the family, neighborhood associations, or the Tenants' Union and for having brought it to the Plenary in the middle of the electoral pre-campaign. "You have had the reins of the Government for eight years and have missed the opportunity to confront those who are living off the work of others," he concluded in reference to the socialists.