Tenant commits suicide in Navarre on same day of eviction order

A 59-year-old man committed suicide in Santesteban (Navarre) on the same day a foreclosure order for the house he was renting was to be served, sources from the Navarra High Court reported on Wednesday.

According to Spanish news agency EFE quoting court sources, the man had a debt of 4,200 euros and a court order had stated that an eviction order could be served from today.

This death follows a surge in the number of suicides and suicide attempts in the wake of an economic crisis has shocked and gripped Spain. Last month, 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.

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.

After Egaña's death, Spain approved measures to help the most needy families facing eviction. The government said it would suspend evictions for two years for vulnerable homeowners who can no longer pay back debt, including those with small children, the disabled and long-term unemployed.

The eviction moratorium will apply only to families with household income of less than 19,200 euros a year.

Mortgage law in Spain is among the toughest in Europe. Homeowners remain liable for what they owe on their loan, even after returning the house to the bank, if the value of the house does not cancel out the entire mortgage debt.