LIVE | Maricarmen, symbol of the housing struggle, receives tribute from Sol protesters: latest political reactions after her death
The Sol encampment is experiencing a day of mourning today due to the death of Maricarmen at 87 years old. The woman, evicted last September 23 and transformed into a symbol of the fight for dignified housing, will receive a tribute this afternoon at Puerta del Sol. Follow the live minute-by-minute here.
The PP vetoes the minute of silence proposed by the PSOE in the Senate's Permanent Deputation
Juan Espadas, spokesperson for the PSOE, has requested a minute of silence from the President of the Senate Chamber during the session of the Permanent Deputation. However, the head of the upper house, Pedro Rollán, has considered that the request does not "fit" into the session, although he showed his solidarity with Maricarmen and with people who have suffered a similar situation.
Vox accuses the Government of "instrumentalizing" the death of Maricarmen and blames the PSOE for the evictions that have occurred in the last 8 years
Rocío de Meer, national spokesperson for Demographic Emergency and Social Policies of Vox, has criticized the PSOE for ignoring evictions during its eight years in government. Likewise, she lamented the tragedy of Maricarmen and accused the Executive of "instrumentalizing" the case of the octogenarian woman.
Ayuso's harsh attack on the Executive: "There are no flats for women like Maricarmen" but there are for "lovers like Jéssica"
Isabel Díaz Ayuso lashes out at the Government in the Plenary Session of the Madrid Assembly. The president of Madrid said that she does not provide "flats to women like Maricarmen", but she does to "lovers like Jéssica", referring to the ex-partner of former minister José Luis Ábalos.
Almeida accuses the left of using Maricarmen as an "electoral strategy" and calls them "carrion vultures"
"They despise Maricarmen's memory so much, they humiliate Maricarmen's memory so much, that they have held a minute of silence that lasted 40 seconds," said the mayor of Madrid after the minute of silence supported by the PSOE and Más Madrid.
"It is not incompatible to respect Maricarmen's memory and lament her passing with saying that before Maricarmen there were 290,000 people evicted in Spain during their eight years in government," he added. Furthermore, he referred to the case of the deceased Olga: "They did not observe a minute of silence nor say a word because Olga committed suicide in Catalonia after being evicted."
The Más Madrid spokesperson to Almeida: "There are many ways to die and many ways to kill"
Rita Maestre, spokesperson for Más Madrid, has pointed to Almeida, mayor of Madrid, "for doing nothing when he could have done" and quoted Bertolt Brecht assuring that "there are many ways to die and many ways to kill."
She also asked: "was it too hard for you to side with the people of Madrid because you continue to side with the vultures": "Have you already spoken with Urbagestión? They called him to mediate in Maricarmen's case, he has their number saved. How are they? Are they happy? Have they achieved what they wanted? They have a house without a bug, in real estate language, a house without a person, an apartment to speculate on. The vultures already have what they wanted, an empty apartment, without a person to speculate on. They had to step over an 87-year-old woman."
Reyes Maroto (PSOE) blames Almeida for there not being "more Maricarmenes" in Madrid
During the extraordinary Plenary Session in Cibeles, the socialist spokesperson, Reyes Maroto, addressed the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, directly. Maroto assured that Almeida "has the responsibility to ensure there are no more Maricarmens in this city and, if he truly regrets her death, that he does everything possible to protect families who may lose their homes because vulture funds want to evict them because they are no longer profitable." Likewise, she reproached him, saying that "Madrid owes her a tribute and also a commitment that no one else has to live through what she already lived through."
PSOE and Más Madrid call for a minute of silence in memory of Maricarmen Abascal
Given the absence of institutional recognition at the beginning of Thursday's Cibeles Plenary, Más Madrid and the PSOE independently observed a minute of silence for Maricarmen Abascal, the octogenarian evicted after 71 years in her home.