Mallorca eviction: woman, 65, spent two months in car

On Mallorca, Pilar López, 65, says she slept in her car for two months after being evicted from the Palma flat where she had lived since 2012. On Tuesday, 6 October, her case sparks a clash in the Balearic Parliament between Socialist politician Iago Negueruela and regional president Marga Prohens. Prohens then walks over to López in the public gallery and embraces her. López leaves the chamber in tears.

A row over the eviction

López says a so-called vulture fund evicted her. Negueruela asks Prohens whether citizens or such funds have more rights, accusing her of meeting the funds but not the people who lose their homes.

Prohens calls evictions “regrettable” but blames laws passed by Spain’s central government for allowing them. After the exchange, she goes to López in the gallery. López later returns to speak to reporters.

Two months in a car

“I’m not being used,” López says. She says she spent July and August sleeping in her car during a heatwave, and that neither social services nor other authorities helped her after the eviction. She says she cannot live with her daughter, who pays 1,250 euros for an apartment whose rental terms do not allow it.

Ángela Pons, spokesperson for Mallorca’s Platform for People Affected by Mortgages, urges parliamentary parties to back a Socialist bill. It would let councils designate areas with strained housing markets and cap rents.

Topics: Housing · Social affairs · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com