In 2021, more than 110 daily evictions were registered, 30% more than the previous year

Last 2021, a total of 41,359 evictions were carried out in Spain, 30% more than in 2021.

In 2021, more than 110 daily evictions were registered, 30% more than the previous year

Last 2021, a total of 41,359 evictions were carried out in Spain, 30% more than in 2021. Compared to 2019, that is, with the pre-pandemic, releases were reduced by 25%.

The reason that evictions have decreased compared to before the health crisis is found in the social protection measures promulgated by the Government during the months of the pandemic, together with the paralysis of the courts that could not process the evictions during confinement.

This meant that, in 2020, the total number of people who were evicted from their homes was 29,406, almost half that of 2019. With the reactivation of the courts, evictions have increased again. However, the numbers are relatively lower than in years prior to the appearance of covid-19.

As a result of the start of the covid-19 pandemic, the Government approved an anti-eviction law that was intended to serve as a "social shield". Although the objective was partially achieved by keeping evictions at a historically low level, the original problem has persisted, and that is none other than the economic difficulties faced by families, which make rent and mortgage payments difficult.

A large part of the decrease in releases during 2020 was not due to an improvement in the economic condition in households, but was due to the pandemic itself, since the courts stopped their activity for a long time, which explains why the number of evictions was much lower that year.

Of the more than 41,000 evictions that occurred in 2021, 70% were due to non-payment of rent. This translates into more than 28,000 cases in which, unable to meet their rent payment obligations, individuals or families had to leave the properties they occupied. However, the figures remain far from the more than 54,000 evictions that occurred in 2019.

The Anti-Eviction Law has also played a key role in keeping evictions low, since it allows judges to stop proceedings if a family meets the "vulnerable" profile, while social services are entrusts the task of finding alternatives for the occupants who will be evicted.

This "social shield" has been the subject of various criticisms both among groups of owners and tenants. As for the tenants, the criticism is about their limited scope, which according to these organizations is not enough, and about the risk that once the measures taken during the pandemic disappear, the number of evictions will return to their old ways.

The landlords, for their part, object to the opposite and lament the defenselessness in which they find themselves if they suffer a non-payment. In this context, a considerable number of landlords are opting for rent non-payment insurance to protect themselves against the risk that the tenant will stop paying the rent for the flat.


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