Carmen, a 78-year-old woman who lives in Rojales, Alicante, inherited a apartment in Palma de Mallorca. With no other intention than to cover the expenses generated by the house, he decided to rent it for 365 euros per month, parking space included. This is how he met a Russian couple whom neighbors recommended to him and who separated years later. She, who stayed in the apartment, stopped paying during the pandemic and since then, she already owes 10,397 euros even though it was discovered that she rents it on Airbnb for 40 euros per night.
“He makes fun of us like he can’t do it,” Carmen’s son Manuel told ABC. According to what the family of the injured owner quantified and perfectly decomposed, the inquiokupa would have obtained benefits exceeding 15,000 euros with the illegal rental of the house in recent years. A situation that their neighbors had warned them about and which they were able to certify by seeing it announced on reputable tourist platforms.
“Tenant’s guests arrive at all hours of the day and night. They ring the doorbell throughout the house if they forget their keys, there are always suitcases in the hall and on the stairs of our house and they arrive loud and drunk. “The situation is unbearable,” states one of the neighborhood complaints that Manuel attached to the complaint against the tenant.
According to the son of the woman concerned, she stopped paying during the Covid-19 pandemic. “He told us he couldn’t pay and we understood because we were all afraid,” he told the newspaper. “Later she told us that the Balearic government had passed a law that she would only pay half the rent,” she adds.
At the same time, Manuel confirmed in an interview with Valencian public radio and television In Punt that the tenant has a vacate order in force since July 2021, which has been extended until now. “He has an income that is double that of my motherwho receives 700 euros in pension, and they consider her vulnerable, while paying the costs of her apartment”, cries Carmen’s eldest son.
Image of the exterior of the building where the inquiokupa lives in Palma
From what they were able to discover, the apartment was rented on Airbnb for 40 euros per night. During the years 2019 and 2022, they estimate that an illicit profit of more than 15,000 euros was made. “She rented one or two rooms and when they were both there, she and her son They slept on the sofa bed“, says Manuel.
“He told us that the law protected her”
The house is no longer offered for seasonal rental on the aforementioned website but, according to the owner family, “people continue to come and go”, as attested by the neighbors who came to report it. “A month ago we called her to find out what she was going to do and she told us the law protected her. When my mother asked her who protected her, she told us that your children will help you“, remember.
Among the documents they provide in their complaint are dozens of customer reviews of the illegal tourist apartment, as well as images published in advertisements for their house. “Residential area of the city with all infrastructure, transport, shops, park, city center and the sea 15 minutes walk“, is how he describes the apartment.
Screenshot of apartment listing on Airbnb
“Everything is very clean and correct, I would say something just right for three people but ideal for a couple. The lighting in the room is a bit improvised but that’s okay. Of course, thanks to the kindness of the owner, I would return without hesitation,” wrote one customer. “We really liked the room but he really looked like a child and there were many things about him. This is what we expected for the price,” says another user in Airbnb reviews.
“We want to do everything possible to make public administrations aware of this and not prolong the launch any further. If you need a social apartment, let them give it to you, but that it’s not my mother who should support her», defend Manuel and Carmen, to whom he owes more than 10,000 euros in rent.
