Members of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) and residents of Arrecife have managed to stop the eviction of Luis Manuel Torres Guillén, 56, from his home in Argana, which the Diocese of the Canary Islands sold to the company Iveco. The eviction was scheduled for 9:00 a.m., but it was not until 1:00 p.m. when the judicial commission, the Local Police, and the National Police appeared in the area to carry it out.
Cristina Cividanes, a member of the PAH, explained that the judicial commission asked the Police if they could guarantee the security of the eviction, as there were elderly people present. In addition, according to the former president of the Argana neighborhood association, Andrés Medina, Luis Manuel Torres Guillén "was having heart palpitations, as he was experiencing that moment."
"The Police called requesting an ambulance, but I think there were no units available, and since they could not guarantee security, the judicial commission had to suspend it," Cividanes told La Voz. "The resistance" has thus ensured that, at least, this eviction will not take place this Friday, although "they will end up setting another date for it."
This man's eviction was going to take place a month ago, but a Court in Arrecife gave him an extension of another month. During this time, "he searched like crazy for a place to go," but he did not find any solution to solve his problem. "Someone would let him have a room to stay in, but only for two months, and then he would be left with nothing," Cividanes said.
The affected man wanted to find another home, as he was "very afraid" of going through a "police" eviction. "He has a pacemaker and feared for his health, he did not want to go through this, but he had no other alternative," they insisted from the PAH. For this reason, the platform intended to protest this Friday against a "silent eviction," since initially the victim was going to voluntarily leave the house.
Another eviction in May
However, given the "situation of not having found anything, he had no other choice" than to resist in his home and trust that what has happened would finally happen, that this eviction would be suspended, at least for the moment. The other affected couple, whose eviction is scheduled for May 23, has also been protesting at the doors of this house.
The houses are located in Argana, on Palacio Valdés Street. Recently, one of the neighbors, Dolores Guillén, was allowed by the Provincial Court to continue living in this house. Two families were already evicted in 2013 and their houses "were demolished."
The former president of the neighborhood association of this neighborhood, Andrés Medina, explained to La Voz that in this matter "there has been speculation from the beginning." The Cursillistas of Christianity, a religious group, began in 1959 to create a series of homes, six in particular, with the help of parishioners, neighbors, and companies that donated blocks and cement. The land, of 10,500 square meters, was a donation from Leopoldo Díaz Suárez.
The Cursillistas handed over these houses to the Church, but the six families "could keep them until they had the means to leave." "The Church never claimed anything until 2006, when the parish priest of San Ginés, Antonio Perera, appeared, saying that they had to leave the houses because there was a sale made with a company," to Iveco, according to Medina. First, a part of the plot was sold "for 258,000 euros and then another for 360,000 euros."
