Spain property evictions double in 2012

 

The number of property evictions seen in 2012 is twice that of 2011, the head of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), Gonzalo Moliner, told Congress yesterday.

Moliner told the congressional justice committee that foreclosure proceedings this year were up 134%, including those for commercial property, garages and second homes, which came to 182,178.

Spain has slipped back into recession for the 2nd time in 3 years, with 25% of the working population now out of a job. Foreclosure proceedings jumped from 58,686 in 2008 to 93,319 in 2009 before falling 16.9% in 2010 to 77,854.

Excluding foreclosures, Moliner said the number of civil cases brought before the courts declined 3.05% in the first 9 months of the year from the same period a year earlier. "In reality the level of litigiousness has not fallen, rather the nature of it has changed, with a surprising increase in foreclosures and the creation of social conflict," Moliner said.

A number of people facing eviction this year have committed suicide.

In an effort to address the problem last month, the Government approved a series of measures that include a moratorium on evicting vulnerable people from their homes and the creation of a pool of low-rent public housing for families who lose their homes to the banks.