Residents of a property in Arroyo de la Encomienda (Valladolid) are facing a critical situation with more than 40 squatted dwellings illegally in their community. Faced with the lack of solutions, they decided to take to the streets this week to protest. They report that they have been reporting the problem for two years, but there has been no change or effective response from the authorities.
Last Monday, September 9, the owners called a rally in the Plaza de España under the slogan “Arroyo, squatter territory”. Its objective is to denounce the inaction of the Banking Restructuring Assets Company (Sareb), owner of a large part of the affected homes.
Neighbors denounce that coexistence is impossible
Neighbors assure that coexistence in the building is not sustainable. The common areas are seriously deteriorated, the surroundings are full of garbage and face high maintenance and security costs. They also denounce the fact that some squatters illegally connect to electricity and gas services, which worsens the deterioration of the community.
They also criticize Sareb’s management of social rents, stressing that in some cases its social function is not fulfilled. Residents feel abandoned by the institutions and believe that the authorities have allowed the situation to continue unchecked.
One of the affected neighbors, Alberto, assured the cameras of “Voyons” (Telecinco) that the situation has dragged on for too long and that they can’t take it anymore. “When there is a massive squat like what is happening here, in the end, this squatter does not take care of the property. We find garbage, harmful insects, forced doors… and the community, in addition to the moral damage, must make an economic effort to maintain things,” the neighbor lamented.
Squatters defend themselves: “Life is very beautiful here”
On the other hand, “Vamos a Ver” had the opportunity to interview one of the squatters of the property, who assured that his situation was different from that reported. “I am not a squatter, I was deceived and I won the lawsuit. “I pay for water, electricity… and the community does not pay them because they have denied me,” he said.
The same squatter denied the alleged threats that neighbors said he had received. “Life is very good here, animals are not killed and there is no threat. We are civilized people, not savages, and I invite you to sleep at my house whenever you want,” he said. “They even said we were selling drugs. The Civil Guard arrived and they were scared when they saw the truth. Nothing that neighbors report happens on my gate and I have more education “A lot of people don’t even say hello,” he added.
Another person who occupies one of the houses explained to ‘Vamos a Ver’ that his group is also looking for a legal and stable solution to the situation. “Those who are most interested in regulating this situation it’s us, “We are normal people who work and our children study,” he said. He also stressed that although they try to help the neighbors, they do not receive any type of support from them. “We are also going to create our platform because we are victims and we have been scammed,” he concluded.
Sareb claims he has been working for over a year
The Banking Restructuring Asset Management Company (Sareb) assures that it has more than a year of work to resolve the situation of the houses in the block. As the organization reported to ‘Europa Press’, 44 complaints are pending judicial notification regarding these cases, which prevents immediate progress in resolving the conflict.
Sareb explains that they are addressing the situation through different strategies, depending on the type of occupation in each household. In some cases, they have identified conflicting occupations of people who refuse to collaborate, which aggravates the problems of coexistence in the neighborhood.
Once the courts have put up the signs and the more than 40 occupied apartments have been evacuated, Sareb assures that he will take security measures to close the houses. Later, they plan to put these properties up for sale. In the meantime, they have detected that 15 of the apartments are occupied by vulnerable families, who have been offered social rent with specific conditions, such as the monitoring of a social mediator.
On the other hand, the company is collaborating with the Arroyo de la Encomienda City Hall and the security forces to verify whether the other 14 houses are occupied by families in conflict. In addition, they report that in the building there are twelve apartments legally occupied by tenants who signed a rental contract with the previous owner of the building.
