The disrepair and abandonment of the El Gancho district of Zaragoza hits rock bottom, in a mired area illegal squathe drug trafficking and the illegal immigration. At the end of November, those of Vox will defend in the plenary session of the City Council, a battery of measures with the “recipe” to recover this marginal neighborhood although it is located in the heart of Zaragoza, a few minutes from the Plaza España and the square of the Pillar.
The municipal group Voice He has been leading the discourse for two terms in this district and during the last elections, he managed to preside over the district, in an area where the feeling of abandonment of institutions has proliferated.
Today, those of Vox want to go further: incentives for commerce, housing and police presence are the maxims they defend to revitalize the neighborhood, thus responding to the demands of neighborhood associations such as the Platform of People Affected by THE Gancho-Pignatelli Squatone of the entities that will participate in the next plenary session.
The Zaragoza hook
Vox denounces that the situation in the neighborhood is untenable and that it is even worse than in 2020, “when the Pignatelli map»: “The situation in the region is incomprehensible. The closure of the Armas center will represent a new element of degradation of the neighborhood,” explains the leader of the group, Julio Calvo, to OKDIARIO.
“On the part of the City Council, resources have been fundamentally allocated to the purchase of land, but this is not enough to regenerate El Gancho. In fact, the situation has gotten worse,” he adds. “There are continuous people who send them photographs and videos of buildings which are squatted, so that we can see how many people live, in prostitution, drugs and buildings in real danger of ruin,” says Calvo.
For its part, the Town Hall launched a coordinated operation last week to a voluntary expulsion in Calle Ramón Pignatelli, in a building belonging to the municipality, in which there were 16 occupied housing units and which is part of the regeneration and housing plan of the Zamoray Pignatelli neighborhood. In addition, various areas have been shored up, as well as the walling of doors, windows, roofs and other access points, in order to proceed with their demolition in the coming days.
The Zamoray plan, the beginning
In Zaragoza, those of Vox drew up a list of nine priorities summarized in tax incentives for businessesmore housing and police presence, in order to recover the economy of El Gancho. On the other hand, they give the example of a private company which, this Christmas, will receive the transfer of a space in Parque Grande.
“In the same way, we ask that tax inventions be studied to promote rehabilitation or installation of businesses in a degraded area that is in urgent need of regeneration,” explains Calvo.
From Vox they explain that precisely the Zamora Pignatelli mapwas born in 2020, to “deal with the problems that affect residents on a daily basis”: “The residents of the neighborhood do not fully see the fruits of this plan, they complain that the resources have been allocated to the Pontoneros student residence and instead José María Forqué.
From the party that defends the implementation of the Zamoray Plan social measures, such as supporting vulnerable families, so that they are informed of rehabilitation assistance, providing funds for families who, despite assistance, cannot afford to carry out these rehabilitations, or the possibility to intervene with social workers in areas where “there is prostitution or high drug consumption”.
The 9 measures for El Gancho (Zaragoza)
- Provide the 2025 and subsequent budgets with sufficient funds to continue the Zamoray Pignatelli map and its extension to Gancho, giving particular priority to the renovation of streets and the rehabilitation of housing.
- Carried out urgently and by the urban discipline service or even resort to subcontracting if municipal resources are insufficient, the technical control buildings which present the greatest deterioration in the Historic Center district.
- Study a set of measures of tax incentives and legally possible public aid for the construction and rehabilitation of housing and the opening of businesses in the streets of the historic center whose urban and citizen recovery is considered the most urgent and necessary.
- Launch an emergency procedure stop of all these buildings and facades classified as “of environmental interest” which present an image of dirt, abandonment and deterioration, which even constitute a danger for neighbors and passers-by, and whose maintenance makes the construction of housing not viable or where alternatives become unviable. The proposed urban plans may present greater environmental interest or improve the urban scene in which they are integrated.
- Report it immediately and take appropriate legal action to expulsion municipal properties currently “squatted”.
- Ask the Subdelegate of the Government in Zaragoza a meeting of the Local Security Council to study the problems of the Historic Center and analyze the most appropriate police response.
- Accelerate the commissioning of the local police station in the Historic Center, which should be operational in the first half of 2025.
- Implement a restoration plan tourist sites and spaces of tourist interest and heritage, cultural and historical value and guarantee that all new construction or expansion projects of buildings include the obligatory environmental insertion study to accredit coherence with the architectural characteristics of the environment.
- Create a Follow-up commission plans for the recovery and regeneration of the Historic Center under the chairmanship of the mayor or whoever she delegates and with the participation of all municipal groups, the District Council and the most representative associations of the District.
