Malaga city council rehouses local anti-evictions symbol Teresa Tirado

The city council reclaimed the property on Thursday, following the voluntary departure of the person who had been occupying it illegally. With Teresa Tirado, the number of elderly people who have been allocated a second-hand rental property since the start of this term of office in 2023 now stands at 45.

Tirado spoke to Sur last week from the housing protest camp in Plaza de la Constitución. Although she is now retired, she has never stopped working throughout her life: she was secretary of the Malaga press association and worked as a nurse in care homes.

"I'm here today, but tomorrow it could happen to you or anyone else," she said from the protest.

According to her account, after being evicted, she found herself fighting cancer and sleeping on the streets. "I just wanted to die. I begged the Cautivo to take me with him," she said.

Tirado was renting a flat on Calle Capuchinos, where she was paying around 400 euros for a small flat, but the landlord decided to raise the rent to 1,200.

"I told him I couldn't pay that much because I only earned 900 and that's when the problems started." After experiencing several water and electricity cuts, on 26 June she was evicted from what had been her home for over a decade. "They had to force me out because I was under the influence of sedatives. Otherwise, I would have died there," Tirado said.

After the eviction, Teresa spent almost a month in a guesthouse in Los Prados, thanks to the city council, which covered the costs. She has also received support from the Un techo por derecho platform, where she is now one of the most active members.

Once that initial period was over, she found herself sleeping "in doorways, on benches or in empty premises, wherever I could squeeze in and get five or six hours' sleep".

That's why, when the housing protest camp was set up in Plaza de la Constitución, she was the first to join. "I don't want anything handed to me for free. I want to pay my rent, but at a price I can afford."

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