Locksmiths and firemen standing up for the citizens and to refusing aid evictions in Spain

Locksmiths and firemen in Spain are rebelling against a wave of evictions in the economic crisis by refusing to help bailiffs open ruined homeowners’ doors to throw them out.

“Families’ lives were being ruined and we were acting as executioners,” David Ormaechea, president of the Locksmiths Union, told AFP. “It was causing us tension and unease.”

A wave of evictions of mortgage-holders ruined by the recession has prompted several suicides and sparked a protest movement that last week brought a motion to parliament for a law to end the procedure.

With the locksmiths refusing to take part, some authorities have been asking the fire service to step in and break open the doors of those resisting eviction.