The spokesperson for the PAH in Lanzarote, Cristina Cividanes, will have to leave the house she lives in and also pay a fine. This is established by the ruling of the Court of First Instance Number 2 of Arrecife, as communicated by the Platform itself on its Facebook page. Cividanes, a member of the Social Work of the PAH and a regular spokesperson to the media on the island, 'occupied' a Bankia property, which she claims had been "abandoned for two years", together with her daughter, who was then a minor. The entity resorted to legal channels to evict Cividanes, and the courts have now ruled in favor of the bank. The ruling states that the spokesperson will be "evicted imminently", the Platform points out.
"Bankia, the most rescued entity with public money, wants to kick another family out of their home. Bankia has preferred to take a family from the Social Work of the PAH to court, without any other housing alternative, to throw them out on the street instead of giving them the social rent they are asking for," the Platform denounces. "This house had been empty for 2 years and Bankia had it completely unattended, not taking care of community expenses or supplies, when Cristina and her daughter, at that time, a minor, were forced to recover it in order not to live on the street," they explain. Thus, for the PAH, to the "outrage of Bankia" we must "add that of the 'justice', since Cristina has had to face a trial for not having where to live without even the right to a lawyer," they criticize.
Faced with this ruling, the Platform warns Bankia that it will not "consent" to evicting Cristina, who is unemployed, and her family "just to have another empty house to accumulate." "We want a social rent for her and we are not going to stop until we get it, if you touch one, you touch us all because also Bankia is Ours!", they claim, in allusion to the money given to this entity for its rescue.
"Exhaust all avenues" before 'occupying'
Cividanes appeared before the judge on October 20, in a hearing in which she tried to defend her desire to remain in the home and argue that she has "gone through all the administrations seeking help", that she has been "waiting for 5 years" for social housing from the Government of the Canary Islands" and that "Bankia had a debt with the community" and she has not been "a burden on the community", as well as the "improvements" she has made to the house. She presented to the magistrate "the receipts for paying for electricity, water and community" since she has lived there and also the documents that prove that "she was in negotiation with Bankia requesting a social rent, in any house".
The spokesperson for the PAH then especially denounced that the entity "refuses" to grant her a social rent, which she also pointed out could be in any other home, "even if it is in the most remote corner of the island." "It is their modus operandi throughout Spain; they prefer empty houses to negotiating and giving a social rent," she stressed. She also emphasized that before entering the Social Work or entering a house, she "exhausted all avenues".
