For more than a decade, the town of Parla (133,000 inhabitants) has seen, one by one, up to three of its major projects which were intended mainly to target young people (the majority of its population) and families. needy. been taken by squatters. These are either tenants of accommodation who do not pay the corresponding rents, or people who have made it their fortress by the traditional method of kicking in the door or by “buying” from the mafias. The municipality began the process of regularizing these people in different ways a few months ago, after the failure of the policies that succeeded in evicting these usurpers from the three huge housing estates. Sources from the Ministry of Housing tell ABC that one of them is already 100 years old. % % legalized. From the local PP, however, they demand “to know how this process took place” and suspect that municipal regulations for access to these houses have been violated. The controversy is over and in opposition, it is considered that what the government of the socialist Ramón Jurado did was to give in to the squatters: “As they cannot evict them, they regularize them”, denounces Héctor Carracedo, in conversation with ABC. , spokesperson for the people in this town south of Madrid. In total, nearly 800 homes constitute the axis of this situation, seasoned with problems of insecurity, coexistence and weariness of neighbors (the least) who have always been up to date with their payments, the most legal. The best known is Calle de Toledo, 15, with 270 housing units and which has been making headlines since 2012. It is known as Parla’s “Cañada Real Vertical” and was even the location for the filming of the film film (a ‘triller’, of course) ‘Siege’, which specifically recounts the intervention of the police in a mass expulsion. It is a gigantic urbanization whose owner, Unifo, to whom the municipal land was transferred, declared bankruptcy. Related news standard Yes Escalation of crime in Parla due to lack of police and patrol cars: “A gang robbed me and now I’m afraid to go out at night” Carlos HidalgoParla City Hall had granted him a right superficial to become owner of the complex, but when the developer disappeared in 2013, the Todo Ayuda Foundation took charge of the community through an agreement with the municipality. The following year, the mayor at the time, José María Fraile, decided that the municipality would take care of paying residents’ electricity, a measure that was removed in 2015 after advice from the Advisory Council of the Community of Madrid . everything, from yesterday to today, the problems of mafias who resell apartments; unsanitary conditions; drug trafficking; threats between residents and the constant coming and going of the police. The Ministry of Housing now tells this newspaper that “the situation of its residents depends on a judicial resolution”. He no longer feels part of the problem, which he blames on third parties, and says that “the neighbors have been cooperative and have managed to regularize issues such as the electricity contract.” Carracedo, of the PP, recognizes that the situation in Toledo, 15, “is more complicated because the land is public but a concession was made to a company that went bankrupt”: “There was a vacuum in which [sus moradores] They couldn’t pay rent to anyone because there was no landlord to pay. The bank is not interested in foreclosing on this mortgage because the land does not belong to them. It has therefore been 100% occupied since 2012. Municipal opacity The situation in the urbanization of Calle de Fuenlabrada, 75, is very different. These are 170 apartments whose ownership was transferred by Solvia Propierties (the real estate company which until 2022 belonged to Banco Sabadell) and which now belong to the company Better World Levante. “Thanks to this, the Town Hall worked to regularize the situation of vulnerable families who lived in this subdivision,” explains the socialist municipality, “and, today, 100% of its residents are regularized, paying their rent and various services” . This is where the population is demanding more transparency. “The mayor granted them a social pension by contract. We demand to know how this process took place, because in Parla there have been regulations since 2013 on what the protocol for access to municipal social housing should be. The rule requires that you have been registered in the city for years, that you have no other accommodation and that you bring your professional life and your employment contract”, denounces Héctor Carracedo, which he doubts will be true for all these beneficiaries. comply. And he adds: “It is a concession to a company which operates these rentals Since May, we have requested in writing information on the latest agreements and contracts with the tenants and under what conditions they were concluded. The one that regularizes is the company with the approval of the municipal council, from November 2023. It ensures that 100% of the development has been squatted. During the municipal plenary session, they asked several questions on this subject. government team, last November, May and June: “They don’t answer us or they tell us that it’s a dealer’s affair and that they have nothing to do with it. In June, we have it. requested directly via the registry. Usurped development of Calle de Toledo, 15 San Bernardo. Then there are the almost 300 apartments on Calle de Fuente Arenosa, 1, whose owner today is Sareb, the so-called “bad bank”. “It’s a fierce fight with the municipality to make them pay for all the damage, with 100% squats,” adds Carracedo. Regarding this promotion, the most important of the three, the Ministry of Housing admits that, even if the property does not belong to them, they are “involved in the resolution of conflicts”: “Various requirements are formulated and it is not excluded ‘to intervene. and load what corresponds to Sareb. “80% of residents have their contracts approved by Sareb,” state municipal sources indicate, without however specifying whether they pay these rents, which the opposition denounces. “The fault lies with the Community” The City. The Parla Council goes further and, despite what it has suffered for twelve years, it categorically affirms that the city “does not have an occupation problem”. “No more than what, for example, Alcalá de Henares can have. In general, according to the latest report of the General Council of the Judiciary, illegal occupation has decreased by 0.1% in the Community of Madrid and this is the trend in Parla”, they indicate, to clarify that, according to They, the squatters are those who take over the housing of a third party who lives there, “stricto sensu” A euphemism in practice to which they add that “the Housing Department works, even if it does not have direct powers in this regard”. the matter, to resolve problems that affect access to housing and, in coordination with Citizen Security, to resolve the problems. of coexistence and/or delinquency. They claim that “incidents linked to housing estates, constantly reported by municipal law as dangerous, in their desire to create alarmism and give a negative and undeserved reputation to our city, have been considerably reduced.”madrid_dia_0703Who is to blame? of all that? The socialists argue that “the Parla problem is due to the inaction of the Government of the Community of Madrid to legislate on social housing.” That is, Ayuso and his team, despite the fact that the problem has been going on for twelve years. And they take the opportunity to attack Sol: “For this reason, Ramón Jurado, with the mayors of Alcorcón, Getafe, Fuenlabrada, Mejorada, Velilla de San Antonio, Ciempozuelos, Coslada and San Fernando de Henares [todos gobernados por el PSOE]formed a commission to promote a legislative initiative to modify the land law of the Community of Madrid and declare these municipalities a stressed residential market zone.
