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A SPANISH football team has come to the rescue of a grandmother who was facing being booted from her home of six decades to make way for a tourist apartment. By Simon Hunter The plan to evict Maria Muñoz, 88, from her Cadiz sparked outrage, with thehouse couldn’t afford. pen- Fortunately, residents’ sioner given a cruel ultimatum: platforms came to her aid and when she could either leave or buy the it city’s Cadiz CF football for €147,000, which she simply heard about her plight team they
Grandmother facing eviction flats is saved by local Cadiz to make way for tourist football team
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THE summer season has officially begun in Andalucia this week with the arrival of the so-called ‘Iberian oven’ heatwave. Residents have been warned of a ‘serious risk to life’ by the Spanish health ministry in parts of Sevilla and Cordoba, where the mercury is expected to reach as high as 44C. Meanwhile, a moderate risk has been declared in Ronda and Marbella. It comes as two forest fires have broken out along the Costa del Sol this week. A blaze took hold in the hills of Casares yesterday afternoon, and more than 100 firefighters and at least 11 aircraft were roped in to tackle the inferno overnight. It came just 24 hours after a similar blaze in Nagueles area of Marbella, which also took more than 100 people and 14 aircraft to put out. Currently, more than 90% of Andalucia is at ‘serious risk’ of forest fires, with experts warning residents to be extra vigilant with their behaviour - including avoiding barbecues and flicking cigarette buds in wooded areas.
In the 1990s, the property refurbished, but she and her was do, unaware of the rule. hus- A new contract was band continued to pay what then is with the €97 monthly signed, jumped in to help. known in Spain as renta antigua, rent. But of just €92 a month. The team’s foundation has or ‘old rent’, a small peppercorn there was a time limit to the now The octogenarian bought the property and drawn contract, and in recent years has occu- sum not up an indefinite rental agree- pied the apartment since 1967, flation. updated in line with in- owners began to sell the the other back when it was rented out ment so that she can stay as apartments. by It was when her husband long rooms. died as she likes. 2016 that her problems began.in Meanwhile, most of the neighShe lived there with her The Fundacion de Cadiz bouring apartments hus- Legally, charge Muñoz her previous will band Antonio, and had her three transfer she was required to turned into tourist rentals, were rent children there. the contract over with her name, which she failed to Maria’s landlords planning to to do the same.
ROYAL TRANSFORMERS We meet the interior decorators for the big name stars See page 18
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JULY 2024
Vol. 18 Issue 449
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July 24th - August 6th 2024
No place in the sun Investigation is launched after PSOE politician evicts vulnerable British mum-of-three from her home A BRITISH expat and her three children are demanding justice after being kicked out of their Costa del Sol home ‘without any warning’. ‘Devastated’ Lydia Preston Sweeney, 52, was given just 15 minutes to leave her Benahavis house by her landlord and former PSOE mayoral candidate Luis Feito Miragaya (pictured below). The left-wing politician, who campaigned for housing reform just last year, is said to have turned up to the two-bedroom property on July 17, flanked by three court representatives.
Complete shock
Lydia was informed that her rent had not been paid since January and that she needed to vacate the property immediately. But Lydia, from Liverpool, claims she never received any warnings about the eviction. Her abusive ex-husband is court-ordered to cover her rent and maintenance bills, and she had contacted the courts on multiple occasions to warn that he had not been doing so. “I was in a complete panic,” she told the Olive Press. “I’m crying my eyes out, my 12-year-old daughter is too, she is completely traumatised, she’s not herself any-
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more and is hardly speaking.” The expat of 10 years and former flight attendant managed to pack just three bags of clothes. She was told the house, where she had lived without issue for three-anda-half years, would be sealed and she could pick up the rest of her things at a later date with a police escort. However after a visit to social services, she claims she returned that same day to find her belongings being dumped into bin bags and thrown into the garage by Miragaya and his family. She told the Olive Press: “We came here with the illusion of a better life on the sunny Costa del Sol, you don’t think things like this will happen. “I am completely devastated, I’m tired, I haven’t slept in two nights and I’ve got awful headaches. “I’m putting on a brave face for the children but I can’t put it into words, I’m in shock. “This ‘man of the people’ knew I was a vulnerable person living there with three kids.” She added: “He’s a PSOE politician so his party is meant to stand up for people like me, but he’s had the biggest hand in getting me evicted.” Seeing her belongings ‘thrown’ into the dirt was
OUT IN THE COLD: (left to right) Harry, 9, Peter, 10, Lyla, 12, and Lydia, 52, have been thrown out of their home ‘humiliating’ and when she protested, Lydia claims Miragaya ‘ignored’ her, ‘speaking on his phone the whole time’. The single mum was well aware the rent had not been paid and had been reporting it to criminal courts for months. The expat was unable to cover the costs by herself and thought she would be protected by a law stating ‘vulnerable’ people cannot be evicted (Real Decreto-ley 11/2020). When explaining her situation garnered no sympathy, she called a lawyer, who advised her to comply. Despite court representatives claiming they had notified Lydia about the impending eviction, social services
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have not been able to find any evidence of this and have launched an investigation into the matter. The eviction notice was issued by Marbella Civil Court which did not communicate with the criminal court where Lydia had reported her former husband for not paying the rent. “There is a process that should have been followed, if it had been, I wouldn’t be on the street with three children,” she said.
Homeless
Lydia and her family, Lyla, 12, Peter, 10 and Harry, 9, have now been homeless for over a week, relying on the kindness of family and friends to get by. “Spain is meant to be a civilised country,” she said. “We are a decent family, we get involved in the local community, so for our lives to change overnight like this makes me lose all hope. I just can’t believe it.” She plans to report the incident to the Spanish ombudsl a n man, as well as the Consejo r natio te In & General de Poder Judicial All UK s m te s TV sy (the General Council of the und Judiciary). o S V CCT Miragaya, who ran for mayn & Visio or of Benahavis last year, t e n vowed to prioritise ‘citizen Inter G 4 & c pti wellbeing’, stating: “It’s time Fiber O for housing…We will create public housing for families that the young people of Ben952 763 840 ahavis need.” Miragaya and the PSOE de635 400 099 clined to comment when contacted by the Olive Press. info@theskydoctor.com www.theskydoctor.com Opinion Page 6