Moroccan Family in Madrid Faces Eviction Despite Government Protections

The owner of the apartment where Zohra, her husband and their son have lived for ten years, has obtained an eviction order from the competent court, asking the family to vacate the premises by July 24 at the latest. However, the Spanish government has issued a decree to suspend such evictions, and Zohra’s family is recognized by the administration as vulnerable and having no alternative housing. Zohra has already managed to have the judge’s eviction order against her canceled twice, recalls Público.

The apartment is a two-room unit located on Zurita Street, in the central Lavapiés neighborhood of Madrid. It is an old building that has started to deteriorate. "The house was in good condition in June (when they moved in), but in December it was unbearable. The ceiling was full of mold and water due to leaks," says Zohra, who specifies that she has repeatedly asked the owner to find a solution to this situation. Without success.

And to continue: "We have spent several months without hot water, they cut off our electricity and they didn’t even help us when the roof collapsed." After this last incident that caused injuries to her 8-year-old son, the firefighters, as well as the social services of Madrid, produced reports warning of the state of deterioration of the building. But the owner continues to turn a deaf ear. "All this, not helping us, not repairing anything, it’s to make us leave..."

Zohra and her husband say they are affected by this situation. They suffer from hypertension and diabetes and fear for their child’s future. "The social services told me they were going to take him away, that they were going to separate us if I didn’t leave this house and didn’t look for another place to live... I guess it was to scare me, to put pressure on me," she confides.

"What he (the owner) wants is to evict us to renovate and raise the rents. In this same neighborhood, he has empty houses and he doesn’t want to rent them to us. He told us very clearly: he wants to force all Moroccan families to leave. My neighbors too. They are very afraid," adds Zohra, who has been trying for months to find housing worth 900 euros in Madrid. Without success. All the steps taken to obtain social housing have also proven fruitless.