Without light, constantly marginalized and with hardly any resources in the face of extreme temperatures, residents of the Madrid neighborhood of Canada Real are already facing their third winter of inhumane conditions and there is no sign that the problem will change in the short term. It’s going to be. Currently, around 7,000 people live in this area and notably, About 3,000 people in Sector 6, most affected by this problem. There, the neighbors do not stop fighting so that the cold does not completely take over the hope. But it is not easy at all, as the locals themselves have told Lasexta on different occasions.
“Nothing more than 14 kilometers from the center of Madrid, we have the Third World.” These were the words of Houda Akrikez, a resident of La Cañada who revealed about the El Intermedio program the “unfortunate” reality that both she and her children bear, Particularly worrying is the situation of minors there, given that frost and lack of power supply are affecting not only their health. They complain that they cannot keep up with the classes and that they are very cold studying at home.
“It is not common to study by candle, Cover yourself with five blankets to be able to sleep or the pen freezes while we are studying,” Houda said. Decisions made by the electric company Naturgi in 2019 for adults, young people, children, the elderly or the sick A company that, according to defense representatives from La Canada, chose to cut off the light in that area, arguing that There were illegal marijuana plantations that were consuming a large portion of the power supply., With the supply cut, Sector 6 has gone completely without power, according to complaints, while Sector 4 and 5 are facing intermittent cuts today.
And it is paying for it. The problems expressed by Huda are reflected in a survey conducted by the citizens’ forum ‘Luz y Para la Cañada Real’: 74% of the population declared that their health was affected by power outages, Furthermore, 81% of adolescent boys and girls declared that their education was harmed and thus, 46% of the general population declared that minors had educational problems due to exposure to light. Nevertheless, after almost 800 days, the responsible administrations still have not implemented effective solutions that allow residents to avoid a situation of constant risk of social exclusion.
Why not, The fight is not only against the cold, but also against housing, This is how Antonio, another resident of the Madrid region who suffers from a lung disease and needs a respirator, explained it when asked by journalist Andrea Ropero: “If they take away the machine, I can’t live”, And in order to survive, he had to install solar panels and generators, thus leaving aside other needs he didn’t consider so important: “There are days when I don’t have enough money and I can’t buy gasoline.”
Apart from the problems of power supply, there are other problems which greatly worsen the living conditions of the residents of the area. ,Ambulance does not come due to road cut“Antonio blasphemed in front of his daughter Azucena, who showed his anger and “helplessness” Because something happens to her father and she “couldn’t be there in time”. In short, seeing the inaction of the administrations, the group of neighbors forming ‘Lose or Para Canada Real’ set out to change the situation through other channels.
In November last year, he stood before the European Parliament. there in brussels They met with MEPs and even the President, At that meeting, Roberta Metsola was “shocked” by the story of the residents of La Cañada, which is why she asked for more information about the conditions they were going through. In fact, very soon the Social Rights Committee of the Council of Europe demanded that Spain put Resolve this situation before 15th DecemberAs stated in our country’s response, that did not end.
Briefly, the State Attorney’s Office responded to this request, supporting its response with reports submitted by the various town halls and territorial bodies responsible for the territorial delimitation of Canada Real. In his report, Rivas Vaciam, the town hall of Madrid and the capital of Madrid, as well as the community of Madrid, indicated that one of the lawyers representing the affected residents of La Cañada transferred to Lasexta, that Developing reactivation of supply is technically “impractical”, Also, that they are in the process of “rehabilitating” those affected. The reality is that currently 200 families have been shifted to other places. However, and for the time being, the judicial process to resolve a situation that, unfortunately, is leaving thousands of people in shock and at risk.
