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

PalmaPilar López Cabrera, 65, explained this Thursday, in tears and during the Palma plenary session, the journey she has been experiencing after losing her home. "I am Spanish and have 40 years of contributions, but I have spent the entire summer sleeping in the car," she recounted. During the months of July and August, she asserts that 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 as a tenant for years in a house on Joan Crespí street that passed into the hands of a vulture fund this summer. According to her account, the fund sent her intermediaries, and at one point, they even offered her 60,000 euros to leave the apartment. A few days before the eviction, she claims that another person offered her 10,000 euros.

Her economic situation is particularly delicate. Pilar asserts 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 22 and that, after failing to find any alternative accommodation, she ended up living temporarily in her car.

Her residential journey has been long and marked by different situations of precariousness. As she explained, she lived for 16 years in a Civil Guard barracks house, from where she left, always according to her testimony, after suffering a complicated situation. Subsequently, she went on to live as a tenant in a garage, in another illegal dwelling, and finally, she accessed the Joan Crespí home through La Caixa until this June.

Pilar also recounted the difficulties that, according to her, she has in accessing emergency accommodation resources. She ensures that she suffers from an illness that requires certain hygiene conditions and that some of the shelters to which 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 affirmed.

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, according to what she 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 claimed her years of contribution and her connection to the island. "I am as much a Mallorcan as anyone else," she concluded.

The representative of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages, Àngela Pons (PAH), 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.