Crusading mayor Manuela Carmena stops social housing evictions

THE local government in Madrid has scrapped the pending evictions of 70 families living in subsidised social housing in the city.
Manuela Carmena, the new left-wing mayor in charge of the Spanish capital, whose coalition Ahora Madrid includes the anti-austerity party Podemos, has overturned eviction orders and enforced legal protection for more than 2,000 households living in flats controlled by EMVS, the city’s social housing corporation. “Nobody is going to be thrown out into the street,” she said on Tuesday (July 28).
The householders were affected by a deal which EMVS had made to sell five blocks of flats to private developers. While the deal fell through, EMVS had had the tenants sign new contracts that limited the terms of their subsidised rents.
A statement from the council said: “The EMVS will no longer pressure the 220 families that live in five blocks owned by them in the centre to leave, and it will stop the eviction processes for the 70 homes.”
The decision was made after Manuela Carmena met with the tenants’ group ‘Yo no me voy’ (I’m not leaving).
The 220 families who had been under immediate threat, live in five blocks in prime, city centre locations. A further 2,086 tenants in social housing in neighbourhoods around central Madrid will also be protected from eviction.