Hundreds of residents, students, trade union members and football supporters marched through Thessaloniki on Monday, November 2, protesting the planned eviction of an elderly couple from their home in the Kato Toumba neighborhood.
The demonstration brought together supporters of the city’s three major sport clubs, PAOK, Aris and Iraklis, in an unusual display of solidarity. Protesters gathered outside the apartment on Kappadokias Street before marching through the neighborhood, chanting slogans against foreclosures and demanding protection for vulnerable homeowners.
An earlier attempt to carry out the eviction Monday morning was unsuccessful following the intervention of demonstrators. A new gathering began Tuesday morning, with residents and union representatives maintaining their presence outside the building.
Elderly couple faces eviction over son’s loan
The couple, aged 77 and 75, are former political refugees from Czechoslovakia who receive modest pensions. Their apartment was reportedly auctioned for €85,000 over a loan taken out by their son, for which they had acted as guarantors.
The wife maintains that the apartment itself had been paid off and that the family was not adequately notified before eviction proceedings began. She has requested that authorities postpone the eviction until a pending court appeal is heard.
“We don’t owe money on the house. We acted as guarantors for our child,” she told Greek media.
Her 77-year-old husband is undergoing cancer treatment and reportedly suffers from dementia and complications following a stroke.
The Thessaloniki Tenants’ Union has called for the eviction to be suspended, arguing that the couple’s circumstances demonstrate the need for stronger protections for primary residences.
Previous protests have prevented similar evictions
The demonstration follows another intervention in Thessaloniki on October 30, when trade unions and residents temporarily prevented the eviction of a 92-year-old woman with an officially recognized disability of 87%.
The woman, a mother of six living in the Ilioupoli district, faced removal from her longtime residence following a 2021 foreclosure. According to Makedonia and Skai, protesters gathered outside the property, prompting a temporary suspension of the eviction procedure.
Both cases have drawn attention to Greece’s continuing housing affordability problems and the consequences of foreclosures involving financially vulnerable households.
The Thessaloniki Tenants’ Union and participating labor organizations have called for stronger legal safeguards against evictions and auctions of primary residences.
As of Tuesday morning, demonstrators remained outside the Kato Toumba apartment, while the couple’s legal challenge was still pending.
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