Alex Trelinski
THE body of an 82-year-old British woman was found in her Torrevieja home after neighbours reported a strong smell coming from the building.
Police found her body on Friday and its believed that she may have been deceased for up to a fortnight.
The woman, named as Josephine, suffered from the ‘rubbish-hoarding’ condition of Diogenes Syndrome.
Residents in the Avenida Alfred Nobel area of the city complained in the summer over her sleeping continuously on the street-facing patio with an umbrella above her.
Torrevieja Social Services and the Cruz Roja then paid regular visits to her as she had severe mobility problems.
Tons of belongings accumulated over the years were both inside and outside the property.
The community property manager is to ask Torrevieja council for help in removing the items due to a danger of fire.
The home will need extensive disinfection after years of neglect.
The area’s property owners association had submitted at least a dozen letters to the council since 2015 asking for action to be taken and the need to help an elderly person who could not live on a ‘day-to-day basis’.
The council said that Josephine had previously received help with stays in a hostel and in a residence.
It pointed out that people with no family-network often reject any assistance offered to them and no legal action can be taken- especially if they are non-Spaniards.
The owners association administrator will attempt to track any relatives of Josephine in the UK.
READ MORE:
- British hoarder arrested over home blaze as fire crews dodge two metre hole on Spain’s Costa Blanca
- German expat who suffered from ‘excessive hoarding’ dies in Orihuela after packed apartment catches fire
