Gebalis defends widow eviction and points out 84-year-olds as a victim

A Gebalis insisted today that he complied with the law in the case of the eviction of the young widowed mother in Marvila, Lisbon, of which he was not a holder, and that the person who was illegally prevented from accessing the house was an 84-year-old.

“ The news in question is based on a gross error, [...] who was illegally prevented from accessing the house was an 84-year-old”, who was a companion of the elderly lease holder, who died, as the grandson, pointed out the chairman of the board of Gebalis, Fernando Angleu, in a press conference at the headquarters of the municipal company.

“An elderly man of 84 was entitled to live in that house and was coerced to leave”, added Gebalis, without needing who forced the elderly, also authorized resident.

On Thursday night, the Camp in Lisbon for housing decided to travel today to Marvila, to participate in a vigil against the eviction of a young widow, mother of two children aged 2 and 4 years, from a municipal house.

In July, when the case was denounced by the view of the PCP in the House of Lisbon, Gebalis clarified that “the authorized household in the housing in question is composed of the tenant and grandson, both deceased”, the grandson being the companion and father of the minor children of the municipality evicted, without mentioning a third authorized resident, the 84-year-old elderly.

According to the company that manages municipal housing, “the woman in question never integrated the household, never resided in the dwelling, nor did she prove these facts”, so “the vacancy did not focus on the authorised element, but on the unauthorized elements”.

According to Fernando Angleu, another address is given on the birth certificate of the two minor children of the wife and the partner who holds the lease.

Currently, the young widow is enrolled in a housing lease program waiting for a house and the elderly who have the right to the house is with family members waiting for a smaller housing, taking into account the decrease in the household.

The housing in question is currently vacant, Gebalis indicated.

“We are only implementing compliance with the law and regulations that exist and we really do that with a great humanity,” the president emphasized.

In July, Gebalis explained in a written reply to Lusa that “the documents submitted to prove the seniority of residence in municipal fire by the unauthorised element [...] are after September 2021, which excludes from the possibility of analysis under deliberation 855/CM/22 (regularisation of abusive/unauthorised occupants) or transmission/new lease”.

Regarding the process of eviction of housing, Gebalis pointed out that the family was notified for the voluntary delivery of the keys to the fire within 10 days, which would end on November 4, 2024, “moment from which the occupant should have resorted to the housing responses under the Lisbon Housing Program, namely: Supported Income, Accessable Income and Municipal Rent Grant”.

Later, on November 7, 2024, Gebalis was cited as a restraining order, which culminated, in January 2025, with a favorable sentence to the municipal company.

However, the evicted municipality appealed against the sentence, with the municipal company presenting counter-alguations and, in December 2025, received information that the initial decision remains.

Therefore, according to Gebalis, in December 2025, “new personal notification was made, hand-delivered to the unauthorised occupant”, for vacancy within three days, but the municipality presented a new precautionary measure and the sentence was again favorable to the municipal company, the author resorted to it and, on July 2, the court maintained the decision of the first instance.

“ At the end of the period without voluntary vacancy, the fire was vacated coercively”, added Gebalis on July 30.