PoliticsDeveloping
Spanish pensioner Maricarmen Abascal, 87, whose eviction sparked protests, dies
By Mantle News
Coverage spectrum
Covered by 11 outlets across the spectrum.
24 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias
Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old Madrid pensioner, has died, the Madrid tenants’ union said on Wednesday. In September she was evicted from the apartment where she had lived for more than 70 years and carried out on a stretcher. The Guardian reports the company that bought the flat sought a 230 percent rent increase. The BBC reports the company later offered her a return at a lower rent, but she had not signed because she was in hospital. Her eviction set off protests across Spain that preceded an early election called by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. After her death, protesters marched toward parliament, and some chanted that it was murder. Reuters reports that no cause of death has been announced.
Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works
What happened
Key points
Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.
Maricarmen Abascal, 87, has died, the Madrid tenants’ union said.
Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left4Center4Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
- Far Left
- Democracy Now!
- Left
- The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, NPR
- Center
- Sky News, Deutsche Welle, BBC News, France 24
- Right
- New York Post
- Far Right
- Fox News
Abascal was evicted on September 23 from her Madrid apartment of more than 70 years and carried out on a stretcher.
Across the spectrumReported byFar Left1Left1Center2Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
- Far Left
- Democracy Now!
- Left
- The Guardian
- Center
- BBC News, France 24
- Right
- New York Post
- Far Right
- Fox News
Her eviction set off protests across Spain that preceded an early election, which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called.
Reported byLeft1Center3Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
- Left
- The New York Times
- Center
- Sky News, BBC News, France 24
- Right
- New York Post
- Far Right
- Fox News
According to the BBC, the company that owned the flat offered her a return at a lower rent, but she had not signed before her death.
Reported byFar Left1Center1See the outletsHide the outlets
- Far Left
- Democracy Now!
- Center
- BBC News
After her death, protesters marched toward parliament, and some chanted that it was murder; no cause of death has been announced.
Reported byFar Left1Left1Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
- Far Left
- Democracy Now!
- Left
- Al Jazeera English
- Right
- New York Post
What is contested
Where accounts differ
Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.
Whether the eviction caused Abascal’s death.
Protesters and a guest on Democracy Now say the eviction killed her. The Madrid tenants’ union announced the death, and Reuters reports that no cause of death was announced. The BBC notes she had been admitted to hospital before her death.
The size of the rent increase that led to the eviction.
The Guardian reports the investment firm sought a 230 percent rent increase. Other outlets describe a sharp or drastic rise without giving a figure, and the company’s position is not given in the supplied text.
How each side tells it
Compare views
the left
5 outlets
Left headlines lead with the eviction and the protests, and the New York Times and Al Jazeera use emotional words (Enraged, furious), while Democracy Now’s headline calls her a heroine who put her body on the line, the sharpest framing at the far end of the side; the right’s New York Post does the mirror image by putting the protesters’ murder chant in its headline.
Protests, debate follow death of Maricarmen, 87, Spain protest symbol
Al Jazeera EnglishLeftAll left-leaning headlines the center
4 outlets
Center headlines state the death plainly and attribute it to the tenants’ union (union says), describing her as a pensioner whose eviction sparked protests, with Sky and France 24 also linking it to the snap election.
Madrid mourns evicted retiree, 'icon' of Spain housing protests
France 24CenterAll center headlines the right
2 outlets
The two right-side articles differ: the New York Post, whose text is a Reuters report, puts the protesters’ murder chant in its headline, while Fox News, rated Far Right, uses a neutral headline built on the stretcher image and the 70 years in her home.
Woman, 87, dies after being carried from home of 70 years on stretcher during eviction in Spain
Fox NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines
The words they chose
Language to notice
Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.
Left3
Enragedfuriousunleashed
Center0
No loaded words in its own voice.
Right0
No loaded words in its own voice.
In the outlets’ own words
Sensational language
EnragedMore neutral: Whose Eviction Sparked Protests
The headline asserts a strong emotion across a whole population, which goes beyond the reported protests.
‘Maricarmen,’ Whose Eviction Enraged Spaniards, Dies at 87
Used byThe New York Times (Left)
Sensational language
furiousMore neutral: Death of 87-year-old sparks protests over soaring rents
The word adds an emotional intensity to the protests that the headline does not need to report the event.
Death of 87-year old sparks furious Spain housing protests
Used byAl Jazeera English (Left)
Loaded verb
unleashedMore neutral: led to
The verb presents the political crisis as something the eviction set loose, a judgement about cause that the facts do not settle.
…whose eviction from her Madrid home sparked nationwide protests across Spain and unleashed a political crisis, died on Wednesday while hospitalized.
Used byNPR (Left)
Words quoted from someone else (1)Hide the quoted words
Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.
Sensational language
Quoted‘murder’More neutral: as thousands march over her death
The headline gives a protesters’ chant prominence, although the cause of death has not been announced.
Spanish woman whose eviction sparked housing protests dies at 87 as crowds chant ‘murder’
Quoted byNew York Post (Right)
Inside a quotation: the outlets are reporting someone else’s words.
See for yourself
Side by side
What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.
From the left
5 outletsLeads with
- the eviction as the cause of the protests
- mass public anger and the protests
- her as a symbol of the housing crisis
Leaves out
- no cause of death has been announced
- unions’ planned nationwide general strike on November 11
Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.
See the 5 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
Protests, debate follow death of Maricarmen, 87, Spain protest symbol
Thousands of protesters honour Maricarmen Abascal's life, while tributes in Spanish parliament spark debate.
Spain’s Protesters See ‘Madness’ of Rising Rent and a ‘Martyr’ in Maricarmen
Thousands of protesters marched in Madrid on Thursday, a day after the death of María del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old whose eviction became a symbol of the country’s housing crisis.
1 more from The New York Times
- The GuardianLeft
Thousands to march in Madrid after death of evicted pensioner Maricarmen
Rally to remember woman, 87, whose rent battle with investment firm triggered nationwide protests over housing crisis Thousands of people are expected to march through the centre of Madrid on Thursday evening in memory of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose …
- Democracy Now!Far Left
"She Put Her Body on the Line": Maricarmen, 87, Dies; Her Eviction Sparked Spain Housing Protests
The 87-year-old pensioner in Spain whose eviction from her lifelong home sparked nationwide protests has died. María del Carmen Abascal, better known as Maricarmen, died on Wednesday just hours before she was set to sign a new rental agreement. …
Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction shook Spain, has died
María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her Madrid home sparked nationwide protests across Spain and Loaded verb“unleashed”The verb presents the political crisis as something the eviction set loose, a judgement about cause that the facts do not settle.More neutral: led toDisagree with this highlight? a political crisis, died on Wednesday while hospitalized.
Also published by France 24. It counts once.
From the center
4 outletsLeads with
- the tenants’ union’s announcement of the death
- the eviction and the protests it sparked
- the link to the early election
Leaves out
- the 230 percent rent increase sought, as reported by the Guardian
- protesters’ chants that it was murder
Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.
See the 5 headlines from the centerHide the headlines
- France 24Center
Madrid mourns evicted retiree, 'icon' of Spain housing protests
Tens of thousands of mourners marched through Madrid on Thursday in tribute to a Spanish pensioner whose eviction sparked national housing protests that culminated in the calling of early elections. …
7 more from France 24
- Tens of thousands march in Madrid to mourn pensioner whose eviction sparked housing protests
- Spain mourns Maricarmen Abascal, whose eviction sparked housing protests
- 'They killed her': Evicted pensioner who sparked Spain housing protests dies
- Evicted pensioner Maricarmen, symbol of Spain's housing crisis, dies at 87
- Anger mounts in Spain as woman whose eviction ignited housing protests dies
- Evicted pensioner who sparked Spain housing protests dies: tenant union
- Evicted pensioner Maricarmen Abascal, heart of Spain's housing protests, dies
- BBC NewsCenter
Spanish pensioner whose eviction sparked nationwide protests dies, union says
Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was forcibly removed on a stretcher from her apartment of more than 70 years in September.
- Deutsche WelleCenter
Evicted Spanish pensioner who sparked housing protests has died, Madrid tenant union says
Maricarmen Abascal, the octogenarian woman whose eviction set off housing protests across Spain, has died, a tenant's union in Madrid has said.
- Sky NewsCenter
Woman, 87, whose eviction triggered snap election in Spain following housing protests has died
An octogenarian whose eviction from her home sparked protests leading to a snap election in Spain has died, according to a tenants' union.
Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction shook Spain, dies
France 24 published a report that is shown in full at NPR. The headline is the one France 24 gave it.
From the right
2 outletsLeads with
- protesters’ chants that it was murder
- the stretcher image of the eviction
- pressure on Sánchez’s government over housing
Leaves out
- the company’s offer to let her return at a lower rent
- the 230 percent rent increase sought
Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
- Fox NewsFar Right
Woman, 87, dies after being carried from home of 70 years on stretcher during eviction in Spain
Maricarmen Abascal's eviction from her Madrid apartment of 70 years sparked massive protests, but her death has now deepened Spain's housing crisis.
Spanish woman whose eviction sparked housing protests dies at 87 as crowds chant Sensational language“‘murder’”The headline gives a protesters’ chant prominence, although the cause of death has not been announced.More neutral: as thousands march over her deathThis appears inside a quotation. The outlet is reporting someone else’s words.Disagree with this highlight?
Maricarmen Abascal had been in hospital for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23.
Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?
The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.
Who reported it when
How the coverage built up
Left
1 hr later
Its first report, Oct 7, 3:43 PM EDT
Center
First to report
Sky News, Oct 7, 2:40 PM EDT
Right
15 hr 14 min later
Its first report, Oct 8, 5:54 AM EDT
See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
- Sky NewsCenterOct 7, 2:40 PM EDT
- Deutsche WelleCenterOct 7, 2:49 PM EDT
- BBC NewsCenterOct 7, 3:02 PM EDT
- France 24CenterOct 7, 3:19 PM EDT
- The New York TimesLeftOct 7, 3:43 PM EDT
- The GuardianLeftOct 7, 4:57 PM EDT
- Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 7, 9:15 PM EDT
- NPRLeftOct 8, 1:56 AM EDT
- New York PostRightOct 8, 5:54 AM EDT
- Democracy Now!Far LeftOct 8, 8:14 AM EDT
- Fox NewsFar RightOct 8, 7:20 PM EDT
Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.
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