Spanish housing foreclosures rise in 2014 even as crisis ebbs

Spanish housing foreclosures rise in 2014 even as crisis ebbs

Foreclosure procedures rose more than 9 percent to 119,442 homes compared with 2013 and, within that, those against people in their main residence increased by 7.4 percent to 34,680, data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Thursday.

Property foreclosures have spiked during Spain's six years of dipping in and out of recession, most of them linked to mortgages taken out at the peak of a property boom in 2006 and 2007, just before the real estate market collapsed.

Spain has some of Europe's toughest mortgage laws, exacerbating problems for families when unemployment soared during the downturn. Nearly 24 percent of the workforce remains jobless.

Evictions became one of the ugliest faces of the crisis, leading to protests and campaigns calling for measures to ease the burden for families and make more housing available, including properties left empty when developers went bust.

With a general election due by year-end, evictions remain a focus for the country's main political parties in campaigns.

Spain's center-right government brought in some temporary remedies to help the most vulnerable households avoid evictions as the crisis raged in 2012. People in Spain are usually held liable for mortgages, even after returning their homes to banks.

The economy has been buoyed in part by strong exports and latterly by rising consumer spending, though the recovery has been slow to reach many families. Four out of five Spaniards still believe the economic situation was the same or worse than a year ago, an official poll for February showed this week.

The government approved a law last week aimed at helping companies and individuals write off debts, though the conditions are stringent.

(Reporting by Sarah White; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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