Valencia evicts family with two minors and an ill elderly woman despite vulnerability reports

The eviction on Monday

A family made up of a 53-year-old father, his wife, their two daughters aged 6 and 16, and the father's elderly mother was evicted on Monday, 9 November, from a flat in the Malvarrosa district of Valencia. The family had rented the flat since 2008 and fell behind on rent after the mother's cancer and a period of lost work. The eviction was carried out under a court order, and no alternative housing was in place at the time.

The Sindicat d'Habitatge de València had called supporters for 8:00 to stand with the family, but a police cordon blocked access to the street. Union figures said officers had surrounded the block from 6:00, and Policía Nacional trucks were already blocking the approach about half an hour before the group arrived. The union said in a statement:

“A family with two minors has been left on the street and no decree has been able to prevent it.”

The father had asked for two days to move his belongings to a storage room, but the request was refused. On the afternoon of Sunday, 8 November, he had already moved part of his things there, and he carried the rest onto the roof after the lock had been changed. He said that if necessary the family would sleep in the car, and he asked whether they could stay at a campsite in the city.

Court ruling and vulnerability reports

A court in Valencia issued a judgment on 29 October 2024 in favour of the property owner, a private individual, ordering the lease terminated and the tenant evicted if he did not leave within the legal period. The same judgment ordered the tenant to pay the owner 5,300 euros in unpaid rent. A court order dated 28 October 2026 refused a request, filed on 15 October, to suspend the eviction, and the judge did not accept two vulnerability reports from the municipal Social Services. The father said the judge had decided he was not vulnerable and had not explained how.

The eviction also falls under Royal Decree-law 29/2026 of 6 October, which in theory halts the eviction of vulnerable people until the public administration offers them a housing or economic alternative. The union argued that the two reports showed the eviction could not go ahead under that decree. The judicial commission nevertheless carried out the order.

Protests and postponements

The Sindicat stopped a first attempt on Thursday, 5 November, when about 30 people gathered and bought time despite the police presence. The union said the aim was to file the documents needed to halt the eviction under the decree. Before that, the eviction had been postponed on 28 October, and a judge gave the family only four days at its last postponement. Union spokesman Esteban Arellano told EFE that four days was too short and that judges usually grant ten.

“We wanted to talk with the judicial commission because we brought two vulnerability reports that prove the eviction cannot happen.”

The union said it had tried to meet the judicial commission before the eviction to hand over the reports, which it said came from the Malvarrosa office of the Valencia city council's Social Services.

The family's situation and next steps

After the eviction the family has no home. It has been offered only a temporary shelter so far, and it is looking for housing with the union's help. Municipal sources said the city council had been working since Friday, 6 November, to find a housing solution, but at the time of the eviction it had none to offer.

The father receives a monthly benefit of 480 euros, which he said was not enough for the rents he could afford. He said he could pay around 450 or 500 euros for an affordable flat. He also said the landlord had wanted to rent the flat for more money, which he could not pay.

Wider housing protests

The eviction comes during a week of housing protests in Spain. The Sindicat de Llogateres counts 41 strike committees in the Valencian Community, spread across its three provinces, and says close to 4,100 people are involved in organising the action. A general strike over housing and the cost of living is set for Wednesday, 11 November.