“I live here because I can’t pay the rent”. Etienne is the fictitious name of one of the residents who have been living in the improvised tent city set up in the park for several months. Pédrals Sonsnext to the Mexico Avenuein the neighborhood of New LevanteIn Palm.
A dozen people live together in this green space which includes a total of 15 tents, and where none of its inhabitants wish to make public statements or appear in photos. But they agree to speak and tell their story.
On one side you can see new builds and luxury developments; on the other, around fifteen tents, a large majority of people who work but cannot afford to rent accommodation due to its high price. The people of different nationalities – there are also Spaniards – live together in an outdoor space, but without a place where they can do their business, wash their laundry or recharge their cell phones. “To get a battery, I have to go to a bar and order a coffee”explains to OKDIARIO one of the residents.
Etienne, of Malian nationality, is the one who takes the first step and is interested in our presence there. Account that works full time in the construction industry. Currently, he is on sick leave due to several fractures to the fingers of one hand and will not go to work, which, he assures, helps him to live together. “If I don’t do anything here, time passes very slowly, but at work, time passes faster.”
Etienne says he shared an apartment but says that now he can’t, I can’t afford it. “They ask you 3,000 or 5,000 euros to enter an apartment. “I don’t have a lot of money,” he argues. He says that the Police He was sometimes present in the region, but only because “they were looking for an Algerian or something like that.”
To wash clothes, they have to put them in a basket and walk 18 minutes, since the nearest laundromat is 1.3 kilometers away. And to clean themselves and even hydrate, they use the fountain in a park near the village of Nou Levante. In the area you can also see various bikes that the residents they are used to moving around the city and going to their workplace.
People from Eastern Europe gather there like Andreithe fictitious name of this man of Russian origin who lives as best he can in certain countries on the European continent, where he has been deported of all, until he finds himself in Majorca, a place that allows him to live peacefully in his tent, the largest in the village, and which he installed himself.
Within it, it has the basic elements to live and spend 24 hours a day. Cooked meals, cleaning products, a coffee maker and even a mattress to sleep on. For hanging clothes uses a wire that hangs between tree trunksunlike their companions, who use the fence that separates the village from the Vía de Cintura to dry their clothes.
What is most striking is the location of this tent encampment. Only a hundred meters away, severals luxury apartment buildings with sea view penthouses. This is a new house built in recent years and was acquired mainly by foreigners with strong purchasing power. And Nou Levante is one of the revalued areas of Palma, with a square meter costing around 4,800 euros.
A renovated space that remains in a accelerated urban development process and where apartments range from half a million (the most economical) to 3.5 million for its privileged penthouses. Most of the plots in this area come from developers and owners who built around 800 apartments in four years aimed at a clientele mainly from Central Europe.
A contrast which can be seen simply by crossing the wooden bridge between Avenida México and Bogotá Street, which leads to the village of Nou Levante. Differences in level and quality of life which will continue to increase if the problem is not resolved. real estate drama suffered by the Balearic Islandswith exorbitant prices both for buying a house and for living in a rental.
