Squatters rise from the ashes in Tetouan: “There were gas canisters”

Early Sunday, this two-story building, abandoned for decades – except by a previous owner who refused to leave his house – began to burn. The group of 20 people, “many of whom are of Filipino origin”, who had developed this space, made up of two adjoining buildings – one of them condemned after the first neighborhood alert in 2022 – and a backyard , their place of residence now It had disappeared when the flames began to intensify.

After hours of work, firefighters from Madrid City Hall managed to bring the fire under control, aggravated by the presence of huts – made of cardboard and plastic that they collect from the streets – and tons of discarded objects as well. both in the interior patio and outside. where they still lie, burned in this country. Samur-Protection Civile paramedics treated a person slightly injured by smoke inhalation.

Some of the individuals residing in these buildings spent the night near this building, on the land located on rue Dulcinée. The next day, some decided to return, without giving importance to the risk of falling branches from charred trees or intense burning smellwhich persists several days later.

“It doesn’t seem very safe, but they will see,” a woman, also a resident of this district of Tetouan, who has had some contact with these individuals, tells this newspaper. “They generally say hello to each other when they go to work and that doesn’t pose many problems,” he emphasizes. The truth is that in the last three years there have been three fires and one death after one of the squatters hit another with a metal chair.

This situation, which residents of the neighborhood have been experiencing and denouncing for more than five years, has not improved since the first complaints. “On the contrary”, the neighbors insist to this newspaper, because it is not in the plans of these “tenants” to abandon the fort they have erected, increasingly degrading the area.

Fear of the neighborhood

That same summer, the lock of a house at number 11 on Jaén Street appeared to be forced. Some of the people who lived in the unsanitary housing located a few steps away decided to move there.

Seeing that there was no possibility of resolving this problem in the short term, Rebeca decided to pack her bags after four years in the same apartment. “The situation was becoming unbearable. “This is the fundamental reason why I left this house,” says this woman who settled in Tetouan 9 years ago. At first, the neighbors found it strange to discover these people accessing the property in an “abnormal” way, but they simply acted as if they hadn’t seen it. However, over time, this situation, rather than being disconcerting, frightened everyone who passed by.

The coming and going of these illegal residents in her building and even being surprised by drug addicts who frequented her porch and on the stairs inside, became reasons for Rebeca to make a decision as soon as possible possible. “I had to jump over people to get out of my building,” he said.

The problem of having this breakage at the doors of houses not only scares away tenants, but also devalues ​​the neighborhood – very close to Four paths and Nuevos Ministerios – to the point that the sales “are free,” explains Rosa, a resident of Tetuán for more than 40 years. “It was very difficult for my mother-in-law to sell her apartment. “No one wants to go out on the balcony and see this alley full of garbage,” he told the newspaper.

From tires to chairs

Mattresses, microwaves, chairs, tires and kilos of clothes are piled up in the alley leading to this land and in its interior patio, next to the barracks which resurfaced among the charred objects after Sunday’s incident. These objects, many of which are made of easily flammable materials, are what, along with the vegetation and grasses present on the land, aggravate the situation during fires that occur in this space. As if all this were not enough, after controlling the situation, according to Rosa, the firefighters noticed the presence of two small blue canisters, those of “camping gas”. “I don’t want to imagine what would happen in the neighborhood if it were to explode”, determines this neighbor with concern.

To the insecurity generated by this type of incident, which has repeatedly forced the evacuation of neighboring buildings, or attacks and disputes between the squatters themselves, is also added the dirt and drug trafficking. “In summer, it is impossible to pass through here because of the strong smell. “We saw rats the size of cats,” the neighbors say.

The constant trafficking of individuals seeking to acquire drugs in this squat neighborhood also causes neighbors to avoid the alley that leads to the abandoned building, a point where on several occasions Rosa claims to have seen the “still” drug addictssurreptitiously, get their hands on these substances. This illegal trade sparked a serious fire in February 2022 and was the first to mobilize the neighborhood against these individuals. One of the women, who they call Aurora, was arrested for starting a fire around that building after refusing to sell him drugs.

After years of complaints and calls to the police, many of them are already throwing in the towel. The main reason is not knowing whose fault it is. “We can’t do anything to these Filipinos. What can we take from someone who has nothing?” asks the waiter at a bar near this problematic area.

Bankruptcy of creditors

The owner of this land, who should be responsible for its maintenance, went bankrupt in 2006. Therefore, no action can be taken against this alarming situation until a judge determines who is officially responsible for this property. This resolution, municipal sources report to this newspaper, will take place “soon”.

In the meantime, residents who do not choose to vacate this property should continue to pray that this legal proceeding is resolved as quickly as possible.