Spaniards Take To Streets To Block Home Evictions

For months, demonstrations have been popping up on otherwise quiet residential streets across Spain. The protesters form human chains, forcibly blocking bailiffs from evicting residents who’ve fallen behind on their mortgages. Sometimes the protests turn violent.

The demonstrations are another sign of just how pinched people are feeling as Spain’s economic crisis continues to roil. With Spanish unemployment above 25 percent, hundreds of people have been losing their homes each day.

Protesters recently jostled with police outside the Madrid home of Olga Veloso, who stopped making payments on her apartment when she lost her job as a janitor two years ago. She’s been served eviction papers twice.