Spanish homeowners rally together to fight evictions by banks

The impact of the toxic assets choking Spain's banks is being shown on a personal level as a legal battle begins in the country's courts.

By Fiona Govan, in Barcelona

Residents in a quiet suburb of Barcelona are taking the fight against the financial sector to the judiciary as they attempt to save a family from being evicted from their home, in a case that has become a powerful symbol of Spain's five-year economic crisis.

At 9.30am in the district of Santa Coloma de Gramenet, just as the governing council of the European Central Bank meets in Barcelona to debate the future of the eurozone, a group of protesters will make a stand outside number 2, Pasaje Tarragona to try to prevent the eviction.

A protest called by the local branch of Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) – a support group formed to prevent property repossessions – hopes to shame the mortgage lenders into backing off.

"It's a family who have no income, both adults are on the dole and they just can't afford to pay back their loan," explained a representative from the Barcelona branch of PAH.

"Enshrined in the Spanish constitution is the human right to enjoy decent and adequate housing and yet the banks can just turf them out on the street."

Between 2007, when the housing boom burst, and the end of last year some 500,000 families have lost their homes through repossession.

PAH estimates that around 200 families each day are thrown out of their homes.

"It's a travesty. These are people who have lost their jobs, and now they lose their homes. There are millions of unsold properties across Spain and yet nowhere for them to go," complained Javier Mendez, marching under a PAH banner during a May Day demonstration in the Catalan capital.

Last month the government put forward proposals aimed at preventing the forced evictions of homeowners who can no longer pay their mortgages. The "good practice guidelines" ask banks to forgive mortgage debt worth less than €200,000 (£162,000) when all members of the family are unemployed.

But in the absence of legal measures to enforce the ethical code, the banks are under no obligation to allow struggling families to stay in their homes when they fail to meet mortgage repayments.

For many, the loss of their home is not the end of the nightmare.

"We bought the flat for €220,000 in 2006 with a 110pc mortgage," explained Maria del Mar, a woman living under the threat of eviction. "Now they are selling similar flats in the same block for €110,000. But if the bank takes our home, the debt won't be wiped. We will owe the bank the remainder for the rest of our lives. It's desperate."

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