Spain Suspends house evictions for two years

Spanish banks are to suspend evictions for the next two years for the most vulnerable people.

An estimated 350,000 families have been evicted from their homes since Spain's property market crashed in 2008, at the beginning of the economic crisis.

The announcement comes three days after a woman in northern Spain took her own life, just before she was due to be evicted from her home.

It is not clear how they will decide who the most vulnerable people are.

The announcement came from the Spanish banking association, AEB.

A 53-year-old woman jumped out of her fourth-floor flat on Friday as local officials arrived to evict her from her home.

Another man in the city of Granada, whose house was also due to be repossessed, apparently committed suicide last month.

There have been demonstrations in Spain, with an organisation called Platform for Mortgage Victims blocking access to houses to prevent evictions.

The Spanish government is meeting the opposition on Monday to discuss new regulations for evictions.

Juliane Kokott, the European Court of Justice's advocate general, has criticised the current rules on evictions, saying they violate European consumer protection rules. - BBC