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, THU., OCT. 8, 2026No. 4 · 6:00 p.m. CEST6 p.m. CEST
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Politics · HousingPress ✓ 5 outlets · statements as reported in the cited coverage

Maricarmen’s death sets the pre-campaign ablaze. Uproar in the Madrid Assembly

The left warns that “there will be no peace” on the streets; Ayuso asks whether she is being threatened. Feijóo speaks of “emotional manipulation.” Neighbors leave flowers at her door and the Nov. 11 strike gains support.

A day after the death of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old woman whose eviction set off the early election, Madrid politics lived through a morning of high tension. In the plenary session of the Madrid Assembly, the left-wing opposition warned that “there will be no peace on the streets of Madrid.” Isabel Díaz Ayuso replied: “Are you threatening us?”, according to El País. The PP denounced “physical threats,” El Mundo reported. Ayuso accused the Government of giving flats to “lovers” and not to “women like Maricarmen,” ABC reported.

Más Madrid and the PSOE held a minute’s silence for Maricarmen at the doors of the Assembly, without the PP or Vox, according to ABC. At City Hall, an express plenary session marked by her death approved a plan by Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida to convert offices and lodging spaces into 18,000 protected housing units, El Mundo reported. Almeida accused Sánchez of having allowed the eviction and of appropriating her memory, ABC reported.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo said the PP will not allow “the attempt at emotional manipulation of citizens,” according to El País. Minister Óscar López said the hate messages against Maricarmen “do not represent Spain,” ABC reported. El País devoted a piece to those who attacked her on social media during her eviction, with insults about her life and her pension. A Vox MEP asked for an autopsy to be performed on her, La Vanguardia reported; the family has not disclosed the cause of death and there is no published indication that it was suspicious.

On the street, neighbors left flowers, candles and messages at the door of her home in Retiro: “Let housing cost no more lives,” according to Europa Press. The artist TvBoy dedicated a mural to her in Barcelona and left-wing MEPs held a minute’s silence in Strasbourg, ABC reported. The Andalusian protest camps are preparing new mobilizations, according to ABC.

Meanwhile, the rule that carries her name in the press began to be applied. One of the two housing decrees came into force on Thursday, as ABC had previewed, and Expansión explained what the residential market looks like with it. The second, on the extension of rental contracts, still depends on the Standing Committee (Diputación Permanente), which has until Nov. 14.

The general strike on Nov. 11 is gaining support: the housing unions of Euskal Herria joined, according to Europa Press. The Basque employers’ association Cebek said it is not “acceptable” for companies to pay the cost of a strike that “smells more of politics than of labor.” And Yolanda Díaz gave the experts until the All Saints’ long weekend to recommend a minimum wage increase, intending to approve it before Nov. 29, according to El País, El Mundo and Expansión.

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By the numbers
18,000protected housing units in the plan approved by Almeida (El Mundo)
Nov. 11date of the general strike over housing
52days until the Nov. 29 election
MarketsPress ✓ 2 outlets + closing quote · closing figures

The IBEX falls below 19,000 points to its lowest since June. Oil rises more than 5%

The IBEX 35 closed Thursday down 0.99%, at 18,928.9 points, and lost the 19,000 level for the first time since June, according to Expansión. Energy stocks softened the blow, the same paper noted. In the week of the early-election call, the benchmark index has gone from rising strongly on Monday and Tuesday to stringing together two down sessions.

The trigger was crude. Cinco Días reported in the morning that the price of oil was up more than 5% and adding pressure to debt and stock markets; a barrel of West Texas traded in the afternoon near $93, according to market data. Expansión reported that the European Central Bank is focusing on the strength of the economy to keep raising interest rates, bad news for variable-rate mortgages.

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Word of the day
benchmark indexMarkets

The usual way the Spanish financial press refers to the IBEX 35, the index that groups the 35 most traded companies.

World · UkrainePress ✓ 2 outlets · casualty figures provisional

Russia kills more than 30 people in Kramatorsk on the second day of mass attacks

Russia killed at least 33 people in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on the second day of mass attacks on civilians, according to El País. El Mundo puts the dead at at least 30 in Kramatorsk and four in Kyiv. The figures are provisional.

The offensive comes as Moscow prepares, according to the European press, a campaign against the Ukrainian energy system before winter. Ukraine says it has destroyed more than half of Russia’s refining capacity.

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ElectionsPress ✓ 3 outlets · negotiation open

Colau will lead the Broad Front only if it brings in Podemos

Ada Colau makes her leadership of the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) conditional on a unity list that includes Podemos and more forces. “To repeat previous experiences I am not necessary,” she said, according to El País and Europa Press. La Vanguardia details how she maneuvered to head the space.

Podemos had offered primaries on Oct. 14 and 15 as a condition for unity. Meanwhile, El País reports that the Government will stretch the Council of Ministers to the maximum until the election with social decrees, and El Mundo reports the debate on the youth vote, which sociologist Ignacio Urquizu sees as more conservative than ever.

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MigrationPress ✓ 2 outlets · Government figures

Government puts returns of migrants from Ceuta to Morocco at 11,026

Minister Ángel Víctor Torres put the number of migrant returns to Morocco from Ceuta at 11,026, of which 513 are expulsions, according to El Mundo. El País speaks of some 11,000 returns in two months, after the clearing of settlements and of El Trampolín beach.

El País also published a list of about a hundred hoaxes about Ceuta, from migrants arriving through tunnels to alleged mass entries. The Government postponed a high-level meeting with Algeria on the eve of the King’s visit to Ceuta and Melilla, El País reported.

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In brief
  • Oncology patient dies of mpox at Donostia Hospital in San Sebastián.Europa Press · El Mundo
  • A 38-year-old national police officer dies after being run over by his own patrol car in Alicante.El Mundo · La Vanguardia
  • David Sánchez, the prime minister’s brother, appeals his conviction and seeks acquittal.El Mundo · Europa Press
  • The family of a former Meta content moderator in Barcelona will file a claim over her suicide.La Vanguardia · El País
  • Household wealth rises 13% to a record 2.81 trillion euros.El País
  • ‘Isaías’ becomes a category 1 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.El País
  • Supreme Court upholds six-month prison sentence for Julio Iglesias’s brother for defrauding 19 million.El País
Seven minutes every evening, one front page — see About

Unverified — what we could not confirm

“Maricarmen’s death is suspicious.” There is no published indication of that. A Vox MEP asked for an autopsy; the family has not disclosed the cause.
“If you strike on Nov. 11 you can be fired.” No. Striking is a fundamental right; the company can deduct the day’s pay, but cannot fire anyone for joining.
“The IBEX is at its lowest of the year.” Not exactly: it is at its lowest since June, according to Expansión.
Glossary · dotted words — economics, law, security and science terms explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDEMaricarmen’s death sets the pre-campaign ablaze. Uproar in the Madrid AssemblyPolitics · HousingThe IBEX falls below 19,000 points to its lowest since June. Oil rises more than 5%MarketsRussia kills more than 30 people in Kramatorsk on the second day of mass attacksWorld · UkraineColau will lead the Broad Front only if it brings in PodemosElectionsGovernment puts returns of migrants from Ceuta to Morocco at 11,026Migration