Positive Energy! 88-Year-Old Woman Faced Eviction, Cádiz CF Steps In to Help

Eighty-eight-year-old Maria was on the brink of being evicted from her rented home due to her inability to buy it, but a visit yesterday changed her fate. Manuel Vizcaino, the president of Cádiz Football Club, and his team paid her a visit, informing her that the club is in the process of purchasing her apartment in El Pópulo neighborhood to ensure she can maintain her rent and avoid eviction. Maria will continue to pay her €97 monthly rent, which she has been paying for her small apartment on Mesón Street for the past 57 years. The Cádiz Club Foundation has provided the deposit for the purchase, with the transaction expected to be completed within days.

Maria avoided eviction just 14 days before the eviction order was set to be executed. With a pension of €1,180, following the death of her husband eight years ago, she did not take over his old lease contract due to lack of knowledge. Three months later, the landlord proposed new paperwork to maintain the low rent, but under the updated legal framework. The owner began selling the 12 apartments in Mesón Street, Number 9, with the new owners planning to use them for tourist rentals. As Maria was unable to relocate or find affordable accommodation matching her pension or her daughters’ assistance, the case went through legal proceedings. A December 2022 ruling favored the Beltre family, and the eviction was postponed due to Maria’s fragile health, offering some respite to her and her family. However, the eviction notice for June 26 seemed like a final decision.

Olivares learned a week ago that there might be a change in his mother’s situation: “Pepe Mata (Cádiz Club Foundation manager) called me, and I cried with emotion when he told me their idea; it was unbelievable.”

This Wednesday, Mata, Vizcaino, and Vice President Rafael Contreras personally visited Maria’s home. Olivares recounts, “They didn’t look at the house. They were very humble and didn’t want media attention. They came to make sure my mother could stay in her home. Vizcaino told my mother, ‘Maria, you are now the owner of this house, no one will make you leave anymore.'”

During the club executives’ visit, Maria could hardly believe she wouldn’t have to leave her apartment. Olivares adds, “The only thing she said was, ‘So I don’t have to leave here? Can I keep my things?'” Maria’s family had previously tried negotiating an extension of her tenancy with the landlord without success. Meanwhile, a philanthropist named Agustín Rubiales is renovating a property and offered to rent a unit to Maria at a low cost.

The case sparked anger in El Pópulo, an area that decades ago struggled with various criminal issues but has since transformed, thanks to European funds for housing renovations and residents’ efforts, into a hub for the LGTBI community and local craftsmanship. However, in the last five years, many apartments have turned into tourist rentals, classified as Viviendas de Uso Turístico (VUT) by the Andalusian government.

Eight of the nine apartments in Mesón Street, Number 9, appeared on the Andalusian Tourism Department’s registry, but five were denied, and three are under review. Previously, the government amended its general plan to ban tourist accommodations in non-highly protected properties.

The issue of tourist rentals is a concern in Cádiz, a city that has lost a third of its population in the last 30 years due to a lack of job opportunities and limited urban space. Consequently, Olivares, along with El Pópulo residents and friends platform, decided to hold a rally at Maria’s doorstep at 10 am on June 26th in protest. Olivares says, “We continue doing this because there are still many Marias in Cádiz. My mother’s problem has been solved, but many others are struggling.”