82-year-old woman faces eviction for non-payment of rent in Tenerife
A local political group has warned of the imminent eviction of an 82-year-old woman from her home in the María Jiménez neighbourhood of Santa Cruz de Tenerife after the City Council ended the rent assistance she had been receiving since being rehoused following the 2008 flood that made her original home uninhabitable.
Drago explained that residents had spent years prior to the 2008 incident warning the Council that a rock could detach from the hillside and damage their homes. Firefighters inspected the area and began installing fencing, but it reportedly failed to protect the affected properties.
After the families were evacuated, the Santa Cruz Council committed to paying the rent for their new homes until the area was made safe, as well as to assisting in the rehabilitation of their original properties.
However, Drago claims that the Council has since stopped paying rent for these families and has not carried out the promised repairs. The elderly woman, who has mobility issues, has now been informed that she will be evicted from her current home as she can no longer afford the rent without municipal support.
Party spokesperson Aitor Montelongo criticised the situation, saying that “none of the political parties that have governed the City Council in the past 18 years have cared about these families,” and added that “it’s understandable that people lose faith in politics.”
Montelongo stressed that “this is a very specific case, but that’s precisely why the Council should take responsibility for rehabilitating the homes, not only because they promised to, but also because these are humble, elderly residents who deserve protection.”
He concluded by reminding that “the neighbours had been warning for years that the rock could fall, and nothing was done, that part certainly wasn’t their fault.”
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