A desperate middle-aged mum and dad have been forced to sleep rough on a beach in a popular Spanish holiday destination after being evicted from their flat.
José Vicente Roca and his wife Charo Ortiz have been enduring sandy clothes and blistering heat on a beach in San Grabriel in Alicante, Spain, since July.
The couple say they were evicted after seven years from their apartment because of a debt amounting to just £1,000, and the pair now use any cash they can get hold of to pay for a room for their 18-year-old daughter.
Alicante is one of the most popular tourist destinations for sun-seeking Brits, but away from the bars and clubs and party atmosphere Mr Roca and Ms Ortiz are in dire straits.
According to Spanish news site ABC, the mother and father have been on a social housing waiting list for the past eight years and now earn just under €1,000 euros (£840) a month which they pay towards their daughter’s accommodation.
In recent months there have been protests across Spain by locals who claim over-tourism has been forcing up rents for locals and taking up homes with holiday lets.
Ms Ortiz told publication La Voz de Galicia: “The rents are so high that it is impossible.”
But she stressed no matter how bad it had become for the couple she would never let her daughter share their situation, adding: “If there comes a day when I can’t pay for my daughter’s room, I feel it in my soul and in my heart, but I’m going to kick a door because my daughter won’t stay on the street.”
Alicante City Council said that it was aware of the couple’s plight and that a file was open with the social services department. The authority said the pair had been “offered the resources available”.
Local media reported Mr Roca and Ms Ortiz had been offered temporary accommodation, and the option of a hostel had been put forward for the price of 16 euros a day, or approximately 480 euros a month.
One source told newspaper La Razon 25 “all these proposals have been rejected”.
As well as being a popular destination for UK holidaymakers, Alicante also has a huge expat community of more than 75,000 British citizens who have made the sun-kissed Spanish region their home.
