Living in a car in Magaluf, Mallorca since December

José Moreno and family. | Alejandro Sepúlveda

MDB DigitalCalvia25/01/2025 09:57
TW
5

Since December 18, José Moreno (61) and his 58-year-old wife Lorraine have been living in their car in a private car park in Magaluf. Three months earlier, they had lost a mortgage lawsuit. So they had to sell their home in order to pay off their debts. With the help of lawyers, all the debt (162,000 euros) was removed.

But they were left with no money and no home and were faced with the difficulty of finding an affordable apartment to rent in the area. José says: "We turned to social services at Calvia Town Hall but they haven't helped us. They don't even give us a hot meal."

Minimum prices to rent are around 1,000 euros a month. "Impossible." He does acknowledge that the town hall has offered them the option of living in a shelter. "But we cannot consider this because they told us that our dog would be taken to the pound. She is over 14 years old. For us, she is part of the family. We cannot abandon her."

Lorraine receives a monthly pension of 480 euros. From next month José, who says he has not received anything for eleven months, will get a disability pension. He suffers from epilepsy and has a lack of mobility on the left side of his body, which is why he required the disability.

Originally from Vigo in Galicia, he has been in Mallorca for 26 years. Now, he says they don't know where to turn to in order to be able to have a decent life. "We go to a bar to have something warm and there at least we can go to the bathroom."