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Neither the more than 50 members of the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), nor neighbors, nor tourists have finally managed to stop the eviction of Caty Villalonga, who around 12:00 noon this Friday left her house to comply with this court order. She is left on the street "without a future" and with a 17-year-old son. She has only been able to take some clothes in a bag. The rest of her personal belongings remain in a house that she will no longer be able to enter.
The eviction, which took place on Calvo Sotelo Street, in Arrecife, was scheduled for 9:40 a.m. However, the judicial commission and more than a dozen agents of the National Police did not go to this house until after 11:00 a.m., when some even had the hope that the eviction was not going to take place. As soon as they made an appearance, a member of the PAH, Cristina Cividanes, tried to convince them to back down and not execute this eviction.
This request was not heard and the agents of the National Police asked the members of the platform, who were collapsing the entrance of Caty's house, to move aside. The protesters decided to continue their protest, trying to prevent the entry of the agents and the judicial commission. The Local Police also came and closed the street to traffic.
Thus, there were moments of great tension while the agents took the protesters out, one by one, in flight. The members of the platform and some neighbors continued trying to collapse the entrance, but finally the agents managed to access the door, forced it and entered inside with the judicial commission.
Even, the protesters tried to appeal to the solidarity of the National Police and asked them to become "conscientious objectors" and refuse to evict "people from their homes." The agents asked for the ID of most of the protesters.
Caty, the person affected by the eviction, lived all these moments of tension from the window. From there, she shouted "For God's sake, how can this be happening", while the members of the PAH insisted that the situation was "a shame." The judicial commission and several agents entered Caty's house and asked her to leave it in half an hour.
Minutes later, Caty decided to leave her house, forever. When she went down to the street, she was received by the members of the platform, who did not stop shouting "brave and champion." Many of them could not contain their tears for the impotence and sadness of this situation.
"I have no hope"
Before the media, Caty was absolutely devastated. "I have no hope. I'm going to be on the street today if no one offers me a room. You can't leave a person and her son on the street," she said, while criticizing the agents of the National Police for treating the protesters "like garbage." However, Caty did make it clear that the agents treated her correctly, since she did not put "any force to leave the house." "I will never be able to enter my house again, where my things are," lamented this woman.
Caty Villalonga has been left on the street, after three years of not being able to face the mortgage, which she had with Banco Santander. This woman paid about 120,000 euros of mortgage from 1998 to 2010, which she had to extend twice. "I paid religiously every month," she insisted. However, she stopped paying due to economic problems, because her business, a bar near the Arrecife cemetery, began to have many losses, especially since the "Arrecife Ring Road began to be built."
During the last weeks, she has tried to stop her eviction by negotiating with the bank, which she has asked for social rent, and presenting appeals to the Courts. None of this has paid off and this Friday Caty Villalonga has been left on the street and without a place to live. Her 17-year-old son has not had to live this dramatic moment, since Caty has preferred that he not be at home during the eviction.
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