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Maribel continues the fight led by her husband, who died last summer. But she confesses that she is starting to lack strength. As soon as she begins to tell her story, tears choke her words.
"He left without being able to get our house back, after so much fighting," she said.
Despite this, on Saturday 11 January she stood in front of Malaga city hall, armed with a small banner and accompanied by her son, to take part in the rally organised by Aprovij (an association that protects homeowners against legal uncertainty).
Alongside her on this Saturday morning were around a hundred people affected by the phenomenon of "inquiokupación" (squatting tenants): homeowners whose tenants stopped paying rent years ago and have entrenched themselves under the protection of decree 11/2020, which prevents eviction of people in a vulnerable situation.
The decree was enacted in the midst of the state of alarm in order to create a "social shield" to protect "workers, consumers, families and the most vulnerable groups" from the effects of the Covid crisis. Among the measures, it includes the suspension of evictions of people who can prove they are in a "situation of economic vulnerability" and do not have a housing alternative. The original text of the decree stated that the measures would be temporary, just like the state of alarm itself, but the government has been extending its validity year after year (it has been extended again until 31 December 2025).
The landlords affected by this measure do not want to continue carrying this social shield on their backs, explained Virginia Robles, spokesperson for the association in Malaga.
"Five years later, many landlords still have tenants in arrears or squatters, who have declared themselves as vulnerable and who they cannot evict. The rent is unpaid and the expenses have to be covered by said landlords. The state of vulnerability is not being reviewed and the 'inquiokupas' are still there, protected by the law," she said. "The landlord cannot be the social shield. If there is a housing problem, it is not our responsibility," she added. Aprovij estimates that there are 80,000 owners who are victims of 'inquiokupas' in Spain.
The government has set up compensation for owners and landlords affected by the suspension of eviction of vulnerable people, which has to be paid by each region with the funds of the state housing plan. This compensation consists of "the average value that corresponds to a rental in the area in which the property is located, determined on the basis of the reference indices of the rental price of housing or other objective references representative of the rental market, plus the running costs of the property that the landlord proves to have assumed" and is to be paid during the entire time period that passes "between the suspension being agreed and the moment in which it is lifted by the court, or when the state of alarm ends".
"In Andalucía, compensation is indeed granted, unlike in other regions. But what is paid does not compensate for what the owner loses and, furthermore, there are those affected who do not apply for it because it requires a lot of bureaucracy. Many of the affected are elderly people," said Robles.
Those affected criticise that the assumptions of economic vulnerability are "very lax" and are not reviewed over time. These requirements are: that the person has "become unemployed, been on an ERTE (a furlough scheme), reduced working hours for reasons of care or other similar circumstances" that entail "a substantial loss of income", with the total income of the members of the family unit not reaching the amount of 1,800 euros; and that the rental income, plus basic expenses and supplies, is greater than or equal to 35% of the net income of the family unit. Many landlords are forced to hire detectives to prove that the 'inquiokupas' do not comply with this alleged situation of vulnerability.
Returning to Maribel, she said that she and her husband bought a house in 2019, using their life savings. They did that with their son's intended, eventual return from Valencia to Malaga in mind. In the meantime, they put the flat up for rent. Their tenants stopped paying in February 2021.
"We reported it, spent money on a lawyer and a solicitor, and we won the trial in December 2021. But it was no use, because they declared themselves in a situation of vulnerability and have therefore been protected by the law. Our hands were tied. We went to talk to them, told them that we would forgive them the debt, as long as they gave us our flat back... And nothing. Of course, how are they going to leave, if they can get it for free? On top of that, we are the ones being denounced by the local community, because the tenants are troublesome: they shout, they throw things around the yard. I am faced with having to go to court to explain the situation," said Maribel, whose voice breaks again when she remembers how hard her husband fought.
"Beyond words, beyond words. He went to talk to the ombudsman, he joined the national anti-okupas platform, he met twice with councillors... The first time he went, they asked him what 'inquiokupas' were, because they hadn't even bothered to find out about the existing problem! He left very disappointed. The resolution was that, as there was no social housing, he had to put up with it."
After 30 years living in their house, María Remedios and her husband saved up enough money to buy another one and, while waiting for their daughters to become independent, they decided to rent it out.
"It is a three-bedroom house in Maqueda, next to the technology park, and we rented it at an affordable price - 650 euros a month. It was rented to a couple. He said he was an engineer and that he earned a huge salary. They paid the first month and then no more," explained her daughter. In August, María's family will have been waiting for four years to get their house back. "They owe us more than 28,000 euros," she said. The court agreed with them, but when a date for the eviction was planned, the tenants asked for a suspension under decree 11/2020. "And now, both of my daughters are paying rent for other flats," said María.
The gathering on 11 January at the Paseo del Parque tells stories of all kinds of cases, both of non-paying tenants and of squatters. There are also very complicated situations, involving personal conflicts, such as the one reported by Florencio Delgado. Ever since his divorce, his ex-wife has been living in a flat Florencio owns. He has been fighting in court for two and a half years, trying to get her to leave.
"She declared herself vulnerable and so we hired a detective who proved that she works without declaring her income, that she earns more than me, that she has a boyfriend living there with her and that she rents a spot in the car park for 70 euros a month," he said.
"After spending 8,000 euros on defence, to demonstrate that this woman is not vulnerable and has no right to be there, the court, instead of revoking the suspension and carrying out the eviction, has scheduled a new hearing," he added. "In the meantime, she continues to be granted free defence, which means she can afford all kinds of appeals, because it doesn't cost her anything," he said.
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