Apartment cleaned one month after death of Belgian resident in Rincón de la Victoria

Health

The case began on 26 April, when concerned neighbours in the eastern Costa del Sol town alerted the Guardia Civil after not seeing the woman, Therese, for around three weeks

José Rodríguez Cámara

A flat belonging to a deceased Belgian resident in Rincón de la Victoria on the eastern Costa del Sol has finally been cleaned and disinfected by the authorities, one month after neighbours rose concerns over the risk of infection.

The work was certified on 8 June, after a health and consumer affairs inspector from the town hall visited on 1 June and confirmed that “the property has been restored to a healthy condition”.

The case began on 26 April, when concerned neighbours alerted the Guardia Civil after not seeing the woman, Therese, for around three weeks. When the officers entered the flat via the balcony, they found the woman's body. The death was certified and the body was removed from the property.

Usually, in such cases, someone takes charge of cleaning the flat, but this did not happen; a strong smell began to spread, leading many neighbours to wear face masks, and flies swarmed throughout the four floors of the residential block.

Alarmed, the residents took action to ensure the flat was sanitised as soon as possible, convinced that there were remains and bodily fluids in the living room, where the deceased had been found,

However, it took them over a month to achieve this, after approaching Rincón de la Victoria town hall, the courts and the Andalusian regional government’s health department.

After seeking legal advice, on 30 April the residents submitted a written request to the town hall asking it to intervene regarding the health risk; they also started the legal proceedings.

On the first working day following the May Day bank holiday weekend, the town hall drew up an initial report confirming that the residents’ claims were well-founded. With this document, the municipal legal department approached the magistrates’ court on Wednesday 6 May to request authorisation to enter the property and accompany the operators appointed by the residents’ association during the disinfection process.

No contact with family

Despite two attempts, this approach was unsuccessful. The reasoning behind the initial objection raised by the judge presiding over this case was as follows: Therese’s home had not been sealed off; therefore, as this aspect did not affect the investigation, there would be no objection to entry.

However, as the judge pointed out, permission to cross the threshold had to be granted by the deceased’s descendants or, if it proved impossible to locate them, by the competent authorities, on the grounds that the intervention was being carried out due to ‘a risk to public health’.

And that is the crux of the matter according to Therese's neighbours: she had moved to Rincón de la Victoria around 10 years ago and was a widow living alone, had no contact with her children, nor did anyone have her details to inform them of her death.

To locate them, three notifications would have to be issued and should no one respond, the clearance would be carried out on a subsidiary basis. The neighbours feared they would have to wait months.

As part of this process, as reflected in the municipal file opened following the death Therese's death, a resolution was issued by the town hall in early May “to carry out cleaning work inside the property and restore it to a sanitary condition”. A decree was finally issued by the lawyer representing Therese’s heirs on 25 May.

Meanwhile, following pressure from neighbours and the council to gain access to Therese’s home, the court issued an order making it clear: “In view of the proceedings and given that the keys to the property are in the custody of the judicial police in Velez-Málaga, the request is granted, as this court sees no objection.”

One of the neighbours, Isabel, explained to SUR that "on 28 May, the lawyer turned up with another court order, entered the property, and brought in the cleaning company”. SUR has tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain the law firm’s version of events.

Access the latest 112 emergency and rescue news hub