Evicted and ill: a mother from Malaga calls for affordable rent

Elvira del Castillo, a cleaner and mother of two daughters, is left homeless after losing her job and home in a week. She suffers from a serious lung condition and must leave the municipal pension on July 21.

Elvira del Castillo, 45, suffers from a dual lung disease that requires her to wear a mask permanently. Her body generates clots in the lung —half of one is not functioning— and she must manage the risk of thrombosis and bleeding with medication. After three years on sick leave, upon returning as a cleaner, she was only given one hour of work; then came the dismissal.

From housing to the street in seven days

Last June, in just a week, Elvira lost her job and her home. She had been living for eleven years in a seven-storey block near Camino de Suárez, in the capital of Malaga. She always paid her rent on time, but a company from Valencia bought the building, carried out renovations, and terminated the contracts of most tenants. "We were evicted due to contract termination," she recalls.

The last months in the flat were particularly tough. The renovations caused serious damage to her home: cracked ceilings full of damp, the kitchen ceiling collapsed, and the windows were broken. She tried to negotiate with the company to pay a higher rent in exchange for repairing the damages, but they showed her the door.

The municipal pension, a temporary relief

Without work or a home, Elvira attended the Malaga City Council meeting in June to request rental housing. The mayor, Francisco de la Torre, acknowledged the need for "more housing" in the city and called on the central government for "more energy capacity" to build them. In the meantime, the council provided her with a pension for a few weeks, but the deadline expires next Tuesday, July 21.

Now, Elvira and her family —her partner and two daughters, one of whom is a minor— face the street not knowing where to go. "I only ask for a rent that I can afford," she pleads. Her lung disease, which forces her to wear a mask constantly, further complicates her situation: she needs an environment free from damp and dust that worsens her condition.

Elvira's case reflects the housing crisis in Malaga, where rental prices have skyrocketed and vulnerable families are finding it increasingly difficult to find affordable housing. According to data from the Fotocasa portal, the capital of Malaga is the Spanish city with the lowest percentage of reasonably priced rental homes. For Elvira, the solution lies in institutional solidarity: "I need the City Council or the Junta to give me a chance," she concludes.