Yzabelle Bostyn
THE Mayor of Malaga has sparked fury after telling a homeless local: ‘if you have a job, it’s not that difficult to rent a home’- on eve of ‘historic’ anti-tourism protest
Francisco de la Torre, the Mayor of Malaga, made the controversial comments as the council unveiled an ‘ambitious’ new housing plan.
After criticism from opposition parties, the PP politician was interrupted by local Esther Martin, who lauded the difficulty of finding an affordable place to live in the city.
“They evicted me a month after I arrived, on May 31st 2023 and I am still on the streets until this day,” she said.
“I work at the University of Malaga but my salary isn’t enough to pay €800, €900 a month in rent. If I pay that, I don’t have any money to feed my children.”
Martin went on to explain the difficulty of ultilising public housing programs, calling them as likely as ‘winning the lottery.’
“If you have a paycheck, like you say you do, it shouldn’t be that hard to someone who can rent you a place, subsidised by us,” De la Torre responded.
Amid clamours and shouts from the audience she shot back: “It’s very difficult, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.
“I just told you I’ve been living on the street for a year even with some government help. It is impossible.”
The incident has provoked outrage on social media, where users have called it a ‘reality check’ for the mayor.
“Malagans do not deserve this man as our city’s mayor,” said @BarriosAbandonados.
Other users have called De la Torre ‘shameless’, ‘cynical’ and ‘out of touch’.
“How is he going to understand this when in his generation you could buy a house with a goat and two silver coins?’ asked @rorulomon of the 81-year-old.
It comes as a historic protest is due to take place tomorrow, Saturday, June 29 against mass tourism.
Under the slogan ‘Malaga for living, not for surviving’, over 55 social organisations will take part in the demonstration.
The protest was organised by the Union of Renters, who say it is ‘not only them who feel discontented.’
They said: “”We believe it is essential to fight against this kind of exploitation that creeps into our lives and environments if we want to imagine a future that confronts servility, the expulsion from our neighbourhoods and cities, the exploitation of natural environments, the precariety and impoverishment of our lives.”
It will start at 11:30am in the Plaza de Merced and will use the hashtag #29J on social media.
