Judge Forces Feuding Spanish Couple to Split Apartment Down Middle
In a scene from straight out of a sitcom (or a horrible recession with no end in sight), a judge in Spain has ordered a feuding couple to partition their apartment right down the middle, in an attempt to stop the couple from incessantly fighting.
With Spain's economic crisis having no end in sight, couples who would like a divorce have instead stayed together, citing the high costs of a separation. In this particular case, the husband's parents own the apartment. However, because of the lack of affordable housing and trying to protect the well-being of the couple's two young daughters, the judge decided that it would be better for the former couple to share an apartment, as opposed to putting either of them out on the street.
"It is an extraordinary decision that could encourage other judges to seek similarly extreme solutions,” Josep Maria Torres, a lawyer in Barcelona, told the New York Times. “Spain’s economic crisis has changed everything.”
The judge wrote in her decision that any potential encounters between the former couple presented “the lesser of two evils in view of the economic situation presented by both parties.”
The judge did not specify whether a wall would have to be erected, separating the unit, or if a simple line of masking tape would do the trick.
