Marga Aguilar, who has lived in her Barcelona apartment for over 33 years without missing a rent payment, is facing eviction after the building was bought by a Dutch investment fund following the owner's death. This change threatens her and others in the apartment complex as the fund plans to turn the building into temporary rentals, worsening Spain's housing crisis. The country has seen a significant loss of affordable housing options since 2015, as many units have been purchased by investors or repurposed for tourism, leading to rising rents that outpace wage growth.
In 33 years, Marga Aguilar never missed a rent payment on her apartment in a Modernist-style building in the heart of Barcelona.
But when the owner died recently, Ms. Aguilar, 62, got a brutal awakening as a Dutch investment fund swooped in to buy the building.
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