Several dozen people have gathered since early this Thursday in the Embajadores neighborhood, in the Centro district of the capital, to prevent the eviction of Mariano Ordaz, a 67-year-old retiree who has lived all his life in a home owned by the religious order of the Franciscans and who is facing his fifth eviction order.
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Since early morning, a strong deployment of the National Police has cordoned off the area with up to eight vans and four police cars. “We are talking about between 80 and 100 police officers to evict a 67-year-old man, tenant of the Venerable Third Order of Saint Francis of Assisi,” denounced Carolina Vilariño, spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union.
She also reported that two activists are willing to throw themselves into the void in case the judicial commission executes the eviction, which has already been halted on four previous occasions. As a precaution, the Firefighters of the City Council have placed a mattress on the street.
Meanwhile, dozens of neighbors, called by the Madrid Tenants’ Union, have gathered at the doors of the house, at number 1 Carnero Street, to prevent the execution of the eviction order “with popular pressure.”
The property owner justifies the eviction citing the need to carry out works on the building. A serious deterioration of the property that the Tenants’ Union emphasizes is a direct consequence “of years of neglect and abandonment” by the owners.
“The clear culprits of this are, first, the Government Delegation, which was fully aware of what was going to happen here. Secondly, Pedro Sánchez, for not repealing the Gag Law, which suffocates the housing movement at every eviction. And thirdly, also, the Minister of Housing, who has been unable, in the greatest housing crisis, to implement any effective measure,” denounced the spokesperson of the Tenants’ Union.
Along the same lines, the spokesperson pointed to the responsibility of the Community of Madrid and the City Council. “We must not forget that we are in the Community of Madrid and that Ayuso and Almeida are absolutely responsible. They do not apply the Housing Law and do not generate any alternative for the people of Madrid. Today, this whole absolutely failed system, along with the judges and judicial commissions that apply totally unfair laws, are the ones who have failed today,” she indicated.
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