Even during his best years at the ‘Operación Triunfo’ academy, more than twenty years ago, the Seville singer Manu Tenorio did not make as many headlines as his current co-stars. But the articles that talk about him today have little to do with music, tours, concerts. facts or the pressure of the heart, an area where the “victors” usually act. If it had to be classified according to one category, it would be the housing and rent crisis in Spain.

Overnight, with its recriminations and occasional loud explosions on televisions and sets, Sevillian became the best indicator of the country’s housing problem, and the extent to which relations between landlords and tenants have deteriorated.

What happened? Manu Tenorio claims that he has been the victim for months of “inquiokupa”, a word used many times by the musician himself. That’s the summary, the broad stroke. The nuances are much more complex.

Tenorio claims that for over a year he has been demanding the tenants of his house in Sanlúcar de Barrameda to “return” the property, while also demanding thousands of euros in outstanding payments. The tenants, on the other hand, claim that they have received numerous letters from the Treasury ordering them not to pay the Sevillian musician because – as they assured Antena 3 days ago – he is “millions of dollars in debt”. If so, the Treasury order would not be exceptional.

Do you know just that? No. In the last few days, new details have emerged, albeit through explanations, exclusions and accusations rather than reliable documents. The ones who have spoken out the most have undoubtedly been Tenorio himself and his entourage. They claim that the tenants of the house in Sanlúcar de Barrameda have not paid their rent for over a year, that their debt now exceeds 10,000 euros and that they are still living in the house.

“I have some slum dwellers, they don’t have any other name because the term ‘tenant’ has to be agreed upon between the landlord and the tenant, and I have been asking these people for more than a year to make sure they donate. The singer recently claimed: ‘Give me back my house and there is no way you can kick them out.'”

So what does the other side say? According to the programme ‘And now Sonsoles’, which speaks directly to the tenants via a closed microphone, they neither consider themselves squatters nor do they stop paying. “We have received two letters from the Treasury telling us not to pay Manu Tenorio because he owes millions of dollars,” they claim. “How are we going to pay him if the Treasury asks us for money by letter?”

According to elDiario.es, a family of five, three of whom are minors, will live in the Sanlúcar house, which has a four-year lease. To complete the case, they reported that the house was damaged.

Tenorio was quick to respond, saying that “like many other Spanish citizens” what was pending at the Treasury was actually a postponement of payments. During an interview at COPE, the musician said that he had requested a certificate proving that he had no debt to the Treasury, but refused to make it public. He argued that doing so would be “submitting to the dictatorship of unidentified people.”

So is that it? No. Although Tenorio is something of a media figure and his disputes with tenants are of interest to the tabloids, there is another key to the enormous controversy the case has generated: his style. For days now, the musician has been raising his voice flowstelevision stations, radio stations and networks to defend their positions against what they see as “inquiokupa.” Often in an enthusiastic tone, bordering on explosion or even beyond, as in a video (later deleted) in which he retaliates to the incident.

“Let’s see, you big bunch of idiots, how do you want me to justify paying the Treasury, which I will do, and yet people in a property have debts of more than 10,000 euros, without a contract… Don’t these people think of demanding from them the latest developments regarding the Treasury?” he challenged.

Are they the only voice? No. The debate gained media traction for another reason: it didn’t take long to spill over into the political arena. Podemos has attacked Manu Tenorio harshly for promoting “a false narrative of occupation” and “discrediting” its tenants. Moreover, its spokesperson, María Teresa Pérez, has supported the family’s version, assuring that the Sevillian singer has “a very significant debt to the Treasury.” “The Administration therefore demands that the tenants pay directly to the public treasury,” she said.

Tenorio had already demanded his resignation through X, calling him a “liar”. He also invited Pablo Iglesias, former secretary general of Podemos, to appear on the programme he is directing to talk about the case. “If he invites the restless […]“I request that you invite me to be equal and lead by example,” he concluded.

What does the case tell us? This is the key. Tenorio’s discussion is not only interesting because of the background or the forms of the Seville musician. If the case has reached such depth, it is because it speaks of the real estate market and rental in Spain. More precisely, three factors that go beyond the specific details of the “extreme” case, even without being made public.

The first of these is the difficulties experienced by a large part of the country in meeting their incomes, following the exorbitant price increases exceeding 60 percent in the last 10 years, which have caused a significant portion of the country’s households to fall behind in paying their bills. IBI, community, mortgage or rent.

Secondly, buying a property as an asset, buying a property to use as an investment, whether it is a residential property or a holiday rental, is even more interesting. A recent report by Fotocasa reflects that the percentage of buyers buying property for investment purposes and in search of returns has doubled in a short time.

And the third factor? Perhaps the most important one, and the one that best reflects the extent to which the relationship between landlords and tenants has deteriorated: fear of squatters. Tenorio himself has used the expression “inquiokupas” and this is the reason for his major rift with Podemos, accusing it of “encouraging far-right rhetoric”.

elDiario.es recently interviewed residents of a Sanlúcar de Barrameda house, who said: “I don’t know if they stopped paying, but they are not squatters.” Despite the media coverage of the squatter phenomenon, laSexta pointed out that in 2023 its reflection in reality is very limited: 16,700 complaints for occupation have been registered, a low number compared to the approximately 26 million homes in the country.

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