Two young residents of Lanzarote report being evicted from the home they were subletting in Arrecife. She, 34 years old and five months pregnant with a boy, and her 25-year-old partner, have been sleeping for days in some galleries on Calle Real, in the city center. "We are sleeping with cardboard and blankets on the street in the cold," they have assured La Voz. According to what they have said, the two nights have been hell. "We have slept, but not rested," they say.
Their landlord evicted them from a home in Arrecife last Friday, with the collaboration of another tenant with whom they resided, a relative of one of them, brother-in-law and ex-partner of the young man's sister. "We arrived at the apartment and saw our things thrown on the landing," reveals the woman. In addition, three other individuals, who "they didn't know at all, broke the door frame, entered the house and are inside," precisely taking advantage of the fact that "the two of them were outside," they revealed.
In addition, they explain to the newspaper the "violent and unpleasant" ways in which they were expelled. "They threw the crib I made for our child down the stairs of the building," lamented the boy.
According to the landlord and the relative, the reason for the eviction of both was "the change of the lock on the door," a modification that the couple made previously, they highlighted. The relative was the one who incited the owner to kick them out. "He told the landlord that being pregnant could occupy the apartment more easily and therefore, it was more difficult to kick us out of the house," revealed the young woman. The landlord kept insisting that "he couldn't risk losing the apartment," she confesses.
"They threw the crib I made for our child down the stairs of the building."
According to what they said, it was the landlord who pretended not to know them at the moment the police arrived. "He said he didn't know us," they pointed out. "The landlord threatened us with a hammer and told me laughing: "Now if you have balls, come in," the young man revealed, about how the events occurred.
Personal objects, money and even passports
Inside the house, there have been many personal objects that they have had to abandon. "We have left two computers, a camera, passports, medication and even the money we had saved for our child," they listed. Reason for which they have reported the tenant to the National Police Station.
"We have already paid the rent for the month of January and we don't have any more money," said the woman. "We only have 80 euros left in the account and with the pension we don't have enough to live, rent a house, and everything else," she said during the interview. She has a disability pension for mental illness, with a 66% degree of disability and is not fit to perform any type of work, a condition that was approved in 2018.
In addition, due to the situation they are suffering, the events affect their health and that of their baby. During these days, "I have had to go to the emergency room four times with anxiety attacks," she reveals.
The only alternative that Social Services and Social Welfare have given them is to go to a shelter to sleep. "Sending each of us to a different shelter where people addicted to drugs live," the woman stressed. An "unsuccessful" solution due to the stage of gestation in which she is. "That is not a place for a pregnant woman," she added with concern.
She does not want to stop being by her partner's side. "I don't want to separate from my partner, he is the only support I have," she revealed sadly. "They have told him that he can perfectly stay in a street situation," she pointed out. An alternative that she will not allow. "But I'm not going to leave him," she pointed out.
This Monday, for the third consecutive day, they will have to sleep on public roads again. "In the end, we have to wake up on the street again," the young man pointed out.
After filing a complaint with the National Police of Arrecife on Friday night, both must go to the Court of the capital this Tuesday, for the celebration of the quick trial and testify.