Walter Finch
AN elderly woman returned from a trip to Canada to visit her daughter to find that her Madrid apartment had been taken over by squatters.
The community in Lavapies has been up in arms over the drama, caught by live television camera crews, as a family brazenly moved into the flat and began to throw out or sell its contents.
The 87-year-old homeowner, identified as Pepita, was away on a trip to Toronto when the squatters took over her apartment.
Upon her return, she was met with a scene of chaos, with her belongings scattered out in the hallway and her home in disarray.
The squatters even made the chilling threat to throw away her husband’s ashes, which were apparently kept in a small container.
According to Pepita, they have stolen jewellery and two new televisions, as well as her clothes.
“They have left the house in ruins and have taken everything, even the forks, televisions, gold rings, a pearl necklace, which was the last gift my husband gave me,” she said.
However, the threat to throw away his ashes may not be so harrowing, as she revealed that they don’t belong to her husband but ‘my cat.’
“And they said they were my husband’s,” the homeowner added with a laugh.
Residents in the building have confronted the squatters to try to get them to leave the property.
“A woman lives here, and she has a life, and you have thrown all of her life out into the trash,” one outraged neighbour shouted at the grinning squatter.
Police have now arrested the ringleader.
However, the remaining family are still in place in the apartment, claiming they have the right to stay as long as needed.
