On ‘Mañaneros 360’ on La 1, Jesús Cintora challenged claims that Maricarmen’s eviction and activism were staged after journalist Chapu Apaolaza raised the theory on ‘Horizonte’. Cintora called the claims “barbarities” and criticized hosts Iker Jiménez and Carmen Porter for airing them without challenge.
The accusation was that Maricarmen’s eviction and activism were part of a planned operation, allegedly organized in La Mareta. Apaolaza claimed there was a “casting” to select a woman for a stretcher scene and dismissed the Sindicato de Inquilinas as a “fake” union. Cintora questioned how such claims could air without pushback, given the Sindicato’s long fight for tenant rights. Spanish media reported that Maricarmen Abascal, 87, died on October 7, 2026, at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañón hospital after being hospitalized following her eviction on September 23. She had spent nearly seven decades in her apartment. RTVE and other outlets reported that she had a 50% disability and mobility problems.
On September 28, the Sindicato de Inquilinas announced an agreement with property company Urbagestión that would have allowed Maricarmen to return home, but the deal came too late, RTVE reported.
Cintora also accused Jiménez and Porter of “abject consent” for letting the conspiracy claims go unchecked. “Dan asco,” he said on air. His criticism defended Maricarmen’s legacy and challenged media figures who amplify or tolerate baseless stories at the expense of social battles. The Sindicato de Inquilinas publicly linked Maricarmen’s death to the “torturous process” after her eviction. No medical or official investigation has linked her death directly to the eviction.
The fallout has reached other TV programs, showing how charged the housing debate has become. Conspiracy rhetoric aimed at undermining grassroots activism is not new, but Cintora’s intervention challenged the claims on mainstream TV. The scrutiny echoes that faced by other public figures in recent Spanish controversies, including the Real Madrid political symbolism dispute in Ceuta.
Following Maricarmen’s death, the Sindicato de Inquilinas announced a general housing strike for November 11. The case also sparked mass protests and made housing a central political issue in Spain, RTVE reported.
When TV becomes a platform for unfounded accusations, the impact extends beyond the people named. Cintora’s on-air response highlighted that responsibility for what gets broadcast rests with the person making a claim and with those who give them airtime or remain silent.
