Pilar, between tears: "I have contributed for 40 years and now I sleep in the car"

PalmaPilar López Cabrera, 65 years old, explained this Thursday, in tears and during the Palma plenary session, the ordeal she has been living through after losing her home. "I am Spanish and have 40 years of contributions, but I have spent the whole summer sleeping in my car," she recounted. During the months of July and August, she claims she slept inside the vehicle, washed herself in establishments like Eroski or Mercadona, and showered every morning at the Ciutat Jardí showers.

Pilar had been living in a rented apartment since 2012 on Joan Crespí street, which this summer passed into the hands of a vulture fund. According to her account, the fund sent intermediaries to her, and at one point, they even offered her 60,000 euros to leave the apartment. A few days before the eviction, she states that another person allegedly offered her 10,000.

Her economic situation is especially delicate. Pilar claims that she receives a pension of 480 euros and that the loss of her home has left her in a situation of vulnerability. She explained that she left the Gerónimo Pou hostel on June 22nd and that, after finding no alternative accommodation, she ended up living temporarily inside her car.

Their residential journey has been long and marked by different situations of precariousness. As they explained, they lived for 16 years in a Civil Guard barracks, from which they left, always according to their testimony, after suffering a complicated situation. Subsequently, they went on to live in a rented garage, in another illegal dwelling, and finally, they accessed the Joan Crespí housing through La Caixa until this June.

Civil Guard, from which they left, always according to their testimony, after suffering a complicated situation. Subsequently, they went on to live in a rented garage, in another illegal dwelling, and finally, they accessed the Joan Crespí housing through La Caixa until this June.

"I accessed shelters"

Pilar also recounted the difficulties that, according to her, she has in accessing emergency accommodation resources. She claims that she suffers from an illness that requires certain hygiene conditions and that some of the shelters she has been able to access do not adapt to her needs. "I accessed shelters, but given the illness I have, regarding hygiene, I cannot put myself just anywhere," she stated.

She also explained that she is waiting to receive diapers and that, due to supply problems, on certain occasions she has had to turn to a friend.

Currently, as she has explained, she is staying in a hostel in Secar de la Real, but she does not know how long she will be able to live there.

Despite everything, Pilar wanted to make it clear that she has no intention of leaving Mallorca. "I am not leaving this island," she stated. She detailed that she has lived in Mallorca since 1987 and has laid claim to her years of social security contributions and her connection to the island. "I am as Mallorcan as anyone else," she concluded.

"In Palma we have many Maricarmens"

The representative of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages, Àngela Pons (PAH), has endorsed Pilar's testimony during her speech at the plenary session. "In Palma we have many Maricarmens", she said in reference to the 87-year-old woman who has been evicted by a vulture fund.

Pons began her speech by singing "I am Spanish", a proclamation that was chanted by some of those present at the plenary session. The activist wanted to denounce in this way, as she explained, the existence of first- and second-class Spaniards that, in her opinion, are promoted by the current rulers, whom she described as "hypocrites". "It is not an insult, it is a fact", she added. The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, called her to order and asked for respect. "We are lax and we let her speak at every plenary session, but according to the regulations we could choose not to," he remarked.

From the PAH, Pons also denounced the situation of the people living on the Son Bordoy grounds, where, as she explained, there are about 200 people in substandard housing who will be evicted from the site due to the construction of a new housing development. One of the most tense moments of the intervention came when Pons asked Martínez to look at her "in the face." From the benches, some of those present chanted the same request.

PSOE: "The situation is increasingly deteriorating

PSOE Palma councilor Xisco Dalmau has pointed out that "the situation is increasingly deteriorating" and that, with the start of the political term, "housing is once again the main humanitarian problem of this city". Dalmau explained that in recent days the case of Maricarmen has become known and that this Thursday the plenary session also heard about Pilar, "a person who was evicted from her home half a year ago and who precisely now has nowhere to live, in a very delicate health situation". "This municipal government, instead of attending to, listening to, and providing a response, is turning its back on it," he lamented.

For her part, the spokesperson for MÉS per Palma, Neus Truyol, has assured that "for many years this city has been suffering a crisis in access to housing" and that there are "very many families who have a job, but who cannot make ends meet because they cannot pay the rent prices or the mortgages on the market". According to Truyol, the PP at the City Council "is implementing policies against this priority of families" because it "incentivizes real estate speculation and does not face these problems that families live daily". As an example, the eco-sovereigntist cited the 200 people who, according to her report, will be evicted from Son Bordoy without a housing alternative, in addition to the case of Pilar, who "is also living on the street and has no housing alternative either".

Vox: "The PP has started too late"

For his part, Fulgencio Coll, from Vox, has admitted that the housing problem is "very serious" and has blamed the "legislation itself". "HPO [social housing] must be built", he said. Coll blamed the government of Pedro Sánchez and that of Francina Armengol and José Hila during the last term in the Balearic Islands. He also attacked the current PP at the Palma City Council: "They haven't done enough and they started late".

From the PP, Lourdes Roca has censured that "the anti-squatting law is blocked in Congress by Armengol" and has said that if apartments are not released, there cannot be supply. "And if there isn't any, prices cannot be lowered, it is the law of supply and demand", she summarized.