The Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Catalonia top the list of the autonomous communities with the highest rates of evictions due to non-payment of rent. According to data provided by the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the highest rate per 100,000 inhabitants is in the Balearic Islands (23.7). It is closely followed by the Canary Islands (22.5), Catalonia (21.9), the Valencian Community (20.7) and Murcia (20.6). On the other hand, the communities with a lower rate are Navarra (7.5), País Vasco (8) and Extremadura (8.5).
The CGPJ also revealed the total number of evictions carried out throughout the country during the first three months of 2022: 11,072 cases. This represents an increase of 1% compared to the same period in 2021. More than half of the cases (68.9%) were due to procedures derived from the Urban Leasing Law. 24.9% (2,755 cases) stemmed from foreclosures, while the remaining 692 cases were due to other reasons.
At the regional level, the Balearic Islands presented the highest rate of evictions due to non-payment of rent in proportion to its number of inhabitants (23.7 per hundred thousand) during the first quarter of 2022. However, the total number of evictions carried out in the archipelago was just 338, which reveals a decrease of 23.3% compared to the same period in 2021, when 441 cases were registered.
On the contrary, in Catalonia the rate of evictions derived from the LAU was 21.9 per 100,000 inhabitants for the first quarter of 2022. However, during the same period a total of 1,702 evictions due to non-payment of rent were registered, six times more than in the Balearic Islands. Obviously, this difference stems from the number of inhabitants for each autonomous community: Catalonia with more than 7.6 million and the Balearic Islands with just over 1.2 million.
From January to March 2022, the number of foreclosure applications was 6,410, 12% less than in the first quarter of 2021. However, the number of evictions executed for non-payment of the mortgage was 2,755, which represents an increase of 8.1% in relation to the same period of the previous year.
In this sense, Andalusia is the community with the highest number of procedures (1,432), followed by Catalonia (1,251), the Valencian Community (1,042) and Madrid (741). For its part, the Balearic Islands register the lowest absolute numbers since the beginning of 2021, with only 96 cases of foreclosures.
Beyond evictions, the CGPJ has also revealed other interesting statistical data. At the national labor level, there has been a 12.6% decrease in the number of lawsuits for dismissal during the first three months of 2022, with a total of 30,126. Catalonia brings together 20.9% of the national total with 6,287 claims, followed by Madrid (5,714), Andalusia (4,580) and the Valencian Community (3,309). For its part, in the Balearic Islands the number of dismissals filed has decreased, going from 600 in the first quarter of 2021 to 431 during the first three months of 2022.
Likewise, it should be noted that the number of lawsuits for quantity claims registered in the Social Courts (31,990), has decreased by 6.9% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Madrid adds 5,949 lawsuits, which represents 18 .6% of the national total; Andalusia has 5,280 and Catalonia has 3,831. It is worth mentioning that labor quantity claims are lawsuits made by workers to demand that a company pay a certain economic amount owed.
Finally, the CGPJ statement adds that the number of contests presented between January and March 2022 amounted to 5,312, which represents an increase of 7.9% compared to the same period in 2021. The upward trend in the number of contests has been maintained since mid-2020, when the effects of the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic began to intensify. Catalonia is the autonomous community with the most insolvencies filed: 846 in the Commercial Courts and 692 in the Courts of First Instance and First Instance and Instruction.
