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Life

Tragedy

Spain in shock hit by increase of suicides caused by evictions

A 53-year-old woman hurled herself out of the window of her house in the fourth floor of the building in the Basque town of Barakaldo the same day a foreclosure order for her home was to be served.

  • A woman committed suicide the same day a foreclosure order for her home was to be served. Photo: EFE

    A 53-year-old woman committed suicide the same day a foreclosure order for her home was to be served. Photo: EFE

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A surge in the number of suicides and suicide attempts in the wake of an economic crisis has shocked and gripped Spain after a 53-year-old woman became the second person that committed suicide the same day a foreclosure order for her home was to be served.

According to Basque Government sources, the 53-year-old woman, that went by the name of Amaya Egaña, hurled herself out of the window of her house in the fourth floor of the building in the Basque town of Barakaldo on Friday, the same day a foreclosure order for her home was to be served.

Grieving neighbors arrived at the scene with flowers and candles to pay their respects to Amaya, who was known well in the neighborhood. Nobody knew she was going to be evicted from his home, but media confirmed she was due to be served with a foreclosure order on Friday.

Friday's suicide follows the death of a 53 year-old man who was found dead by hanging October 25, also the same day a foreclosure order for his home was to be served.

The man, identified as J.M. Domingo, was found by his brother on Thursday morning when he arrived to open his fruit shop located next to the dead man's newspaper shop.

One day after Domingo was found dead, a man tried to commit suicide jumping out of the window just in the moment a foreclosure order for his home was being served. In Donostia-San Sebastian in April, another woman was found unconscious after trying to commit suicide for the same reason.

Suicide rates have increased across Spain as the nation continues to feel the strain from government austerity measures and crippling unemployment.

Several platforms of people evicted are asking courts to consider what they call a "social rent" for people unable to pay their mortgages instead of evicting them from their homes.

Greece

Mired in its worst post-World War II crisis, Greece is struggling through its fifth consecutive year of recession. Over a quarter of Greeks are out of a job, poverty and suicide levels have jumped and thousands of businesses have shuttered in what Samaras has called Greece's very own "Great Depression".

Last April, Greek pharmacist Dimitris Christoulas shot himself in the head on a central Athens square because of poverty brought on by the crisis that has put millions out of work. Before shooting himself during morning rush hour on Syntagma Square across from the Greek parliament building, the 77-year-old pensioner took a moment to jot down a note.

"I see no other solution than this dignified end to my life so I don't find myself fishing through garbage cans for sustenance," wrote Christoulas, who has since become a national symbol of the austerity-induced pain that is squeezing millions.

Since then, Greek media have reported several cases similar suicides almost daily, worsening a sense of gloom.

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