October 24, 2010
A “Stop Eviction!” campaign was launched in Spain to gain the support of municipalities to prevent evictions and to shelter families that had been evicted in vacated housing with affordable rents. They also lobbied for the ability to return property to the bank in exchange for cancellation of the debt. Activists paralyzed the first home eviction on 2 November by protesting outside the home when law enforcement arrived to evict a single father who would have lost custody of his son had he lost his house. By 2009, the global financial crisis created high unemployment rates throughout Spain. For many homeowners, the inability to pay their mortgages meant that they risked eviction while continuing to pay back their loans, creating the combination of homelessness and growing debt.
