“This is a dismal performance that shows the minimal moral stature of those responsible.” Juan Bordes does not hide his indignation when he speaks to Somos Chamberí about the future underground car park with four levels and 130 spaces in Arapiles street, number 8. An infrastructure authorized by Madrid City Hall through a special plan in 2022 and whose Work began last week.
“The most degrading action occurred on Friday October 4. We have seen 80-year-old trees disappear that have been part of the landscape for the 61 years I have lived here. They felled five trees of a certain size, more than 20 centimeters, or around fifteen in total. Including a protected cypress that was witness to the ancient cemetery of Vallehermoso,” explains Juan. It is in fact the historic and disappeared cemetery of the North, designed by Juan de Villanueva (architect of the Prado Museum).
Residents’ discomfort is also explained by the fact that they consider this to be an “absolutely necessary provision”, as Juan points out. And he adds: “We have a PAIR [aparcamiento para residentes] with almost 1,200 seats in the Plaza del Conde del Valle de Súchil. Also a public car park nearby where there are always free spaces. It is one of the areas of Madrid with the most parking spaces in all plots.
They consider that behind the operation is the landing in the neighborhood of two new private university campuses: that of Alfonso X el Sabio and another of the International University of Commerce (UNIE). “But these 100 places are not going to solve their lives either,” adds Juan.
This chamberlain says that Vallehermoso [constructora ahora integrada en Sacyr que da nombre a este barrio de Chamberí] “He had already tried to create two parking spaces on each side of the current Corte Inglés, but he gave up for technical and security reasons.” It is precisely on one of these sides that work to commission the new underground car park has begun. The license was first awarded to Merlin Properties, the largest listed real estate investment company in Spain, who then sold it to developer Arapiles Park SL.
The activity permit was granted in June, thus respecting the Special Urban and Environmental Control Plan for the uses of Arapiles Street, 8, approved by the municipal plenary assembly of May 31, 2022. Five years earlier, in 2017, the The local government then led by Manuela Carmena rejected the approval of the authorization to run these same parking lots.
Some neighbors who see their foundations shaking
Beyond logging or excess parking in the neighborhood, safety is the neighbors’ biggest concern. Concretely, as Juan Bordes explains, the effect on the structure of their houses: “The foundations with which the blocks were built are located inside the plot, because they come from the same developer who built the buildings “. He therefore believes that the excavation work could compromise the foundations of their houses.
“The current control systems produce a terrible vibration that will also be experienced by the HM Eye Center, which is part of the Madrid Hospital clinic,” warns this resident. Another of their fears concerns the impact on the drainage systems: “During the execution of the work, drainage four floors deep will be created. During the months that this lasts, we will be unsupervised, for example in the event of an emergency requiring the fire brigade. How will a fire occur in houses that face the drain? A short time ago, a fire broke out, which did not get worse thanks to the rapid intervention of the firefighters. »
We have parking for residents with almost 1,200 spaces in the Plaza del Conde del Valle de Súchil. Also a public parking lot nearby where there is always free parking. It is one of the areas of Madrid with the most places in all plots
But the effects that worry them go beyond the duration of the work: “The damage to health will then be caused by the vapors from the respirators and ventilation systems of our facades, in addition to the carbon dioxide emitted by cars. To this we must add the alternative diesel engine, which is installed in the event of a power grid failure, and we do not know if it will also breathe on our facade.
From courts and negotiations to banners
The residents of Arapiles unsuccessfully resorted to legal proceedings. In July, the first section of the Administrative Dispute Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid confirmed the legality of the procedure. They also attempted to meet with the Municipal Executive. According to Juan, the delegate for Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, and the president councilor of Chamberí, Jaime González Taboada, “cancelled their appointment at the last minute”. “At the municipal council, they do not give us the project to analyze it and raise allegations or a license review,” he criticizes. Madrid City Hall has not yet responded to questions submitted through this channel.
In this context, residents of Arapiles and other neighboring roads organized themselves to protest the situation. In the blocks of the area there are many banners with the message “Arapiles Parking NO”. On October 5, several residents participated in the demonstration of residents of Abtao and Cavanilles streets, in Retiro, against a similar infrastructure authorized by the municipality of José Luis Martínez-Almeida. In this case, the threat of transferring a 38-ton tunnel boring machine above residential buildings led the authorities to have to temporarily suspend the work, despite municipal authorization.
For Juan, the summary of the situation is very simple: “A little more than 100 places that no one requested deprive more than 300 families.” A feeling of helplessness that agitates them even more with certain details of the project, such as the installation of “exotic flowers” to mitigate the environmental impact: “They want the big substitute for trees to be a line of small plants no longer 40 centimeters.
