Spanish grandmother, 88, faces eviction from her home where she has lived for half a century because the owner wants to sell to a developer who will turn site into holiday apartments

An 88-year-old Spanish grandmother faces eviction from the flat where she has lived for half a century because the owner wants to sell to a developer who will turn the building into apartments for tourists - leading to local fury at holidaymakers .

María Muñoz cannot afford to buy the property in El Pópulo, an area in Cádiz, southern Spain, popular with British tourists, so could be forced to leave the place she has lived in for 57 years.

She could become the latest resident in this historic neighbourhood to be forced out because they cannot afford to buy their homes which have been converted into tourist flats.

'I feel really bad. I have lived here since 1967,' Mrs Muñoz, who has six grandchildren, told MailOnline.

'I had my three children here and we have lived here for 57 years. Now I am going to lose the flat. It is the fault of tourists.'

María Muñoz cannot afford to buy the property in El Pópulo so could be forced to leave. She is pictured with campaigner Antonio Gallardo and her daughter Eva Orihuela

The owners have offered her the chance to buy her flat for €147,000 (£126,197), but with a pension of just €1,180 (£1,013) per month, she cannot afford it.

Last year, 2,906,511 tourists visited Cadíz, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute, beating the numbers who chose to visit the city in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

El Pópulo is the oldest part of the Spanish port city and contains the Church of San Juan de Díos, which is popular with tourists visiting the city in Andalusia, a region beloved by Britons who visit Malaga, Seville and Granada.

Campaigners have started to plaster buildings like the one Mrs Muñoz lives in with stickers saying: 'Yes to tourism, no to touristifaction' and 'stop tourist flats'.

They claim many of these apartments are not legal, since they have not been registered with Cadíz council.

The protest echoes similar demonstrations against over tourism in Malaga and Madrid, in which residents covered tourist flats in stickers saying 'we used to live there' and 'F**k Airbnb'.

Antonio Gallardo, spokesman for the Platform of Neighbours and Friends of El Pópulo, said Mrs Muñoz was a direct victim of 'over tourism'.

El Pópulo is the oldest part of the Spanish port city, which is located in Andalusia, a region beloved by Britons who visit Malaga, Seville and Granada (file image)

'The people who own these properties do not have any heart or soul. They just want to sell these flats to developers who want to turn them into tourist flats,' he told Mailonline.

'This will kill Maria. We want less tourist flats and more accommodation for people from Andalusia.'

A court has said Mrs Muñoz will be evicted on 26 June but Mr Gallardo is planning a large demonstration to stop her being forced out of her home.

A campaign has been launched called 'Adopt a Grandmother' to try to support Mrs Muñoz.

So far, nearly 26,000 people have signed the petition.

Emilio Beltrami, the lawyer for the owners, told El País , a Spanish newspaper: 'We never wanted to turn these properties into tourist flats, it is the developers who bought them who have done that.'

Mailonline contacted Mr Beltrami but did not receive a reply.