Several military houses located on the left side of the Airport Museum, within the Lanzarote Military Aerodrome, lack public lighting, suffer the consequences of obsolete pipes, the cabinets turn green due to humidity, and during cockroach season, they receive massive visits from these bugs that cause panic to the tenants. When you pass the road that delimits the nine houses, things change. The palm trees are pruned, the streets are cleaned, and the rest of the houses where military personnel used to live are whitewashed. A children's park with rusty swings between these two blocks is the symbol of the abandonment that began about three years ago.
Many families left the houses, and currently only five remain, resisting the neglect of the properties. But Teresa Jiménez Rodríguez, the wife of one of the military personnel, has run out of patience because she is overwhelmed by finding rat droppings in her patio every morning.
Change of Ownership
According to some residents, a change in the ownership of the land where the houses are located has left this area in no man's land. It is already a unique neighborhood. They are located within the Airport grounds. Fenced inside an area composed of terminals, airplanes, Aena offices, the Aeronautical Museum, and some lost tourists who, in search of an exit, arrive at the houses. There are no supermarkets, video stores, or daycare centers.
In front of these houses, another block of houses, which also belonged to Defense, has now passed into the hands of Aena, according to residents of the area. The houses have been renovated and look new. "Now they are offices," explains one of the neighbors.
This change has left them in a situation of uncertainty because they do not know who to ask for explanations. They believe that their land now belongs to Aviation, but in principle, the person in charge of managing and maintaining all the houses where tenants remain is the National Institute of Housing of the Armed Forces (INVIFA), because they are the ones who pay the rent, which does not exceed 101 euros.
With the change of ownership, new homes were offered to the tenants, but several rejected them because they lost the right of lifetime use of their homes. They refuse to abandon them and, in turn, feel that INVIFA has abandoned them.
Deficiencies in the Properties
They suffer this abandonment, according to their accounts, when they have a breakdown. The Army's procedure is clear. They must fill out a report stating the deficiencies, but these reports receive, in the best of cases, delay, in the worst, indifference. Plumbers who, they claim, never come to fix pipes that have no outlet and that return wastewater to the sink. Manholes that pose a danger to pedestrians and that overflow and expel sewage when it rains.
Similarly, the environment is abandoned. Teresa says she feels scared at night. They do not have public lighting. They do have daily garbage collection, but they explain that it is because Aena voluntarily sends the truck to the colony.
They no longer know who to turn to to take care of the cleaning and maintenance of the common areas. The City Council of San Bartolomé, in the words of its mayor Marcial Martín, has no "competence" within the airport grounds, since they belong to the State.
It is a complete abandonment, of homes and environment, which they presume is intentional, so that they are forced to abandon the homes.
Teresa's House
Teresa Jiménez's husband is a Lieutenant. Eleven years ago, they moved to live in one of the houses within the airport grounds, with the promise that over time they would be transferred to new buildings. However, the transfer meant losing the lifetime rights they had in the lease agreement, so they rejected this possibility.
With the promise that one day they will be transferred, Teresa and her family do not dare to invest in the house. Now, they live in a house between two abandoned buildings, which accumulate garbage. She has had to remove a built-in wardrobe in one of the walls of her son's room because the humidity was filling it with mold. Recently, part of the ceiling came off, which took months to fix, and due to the conditions of her home, she is convinced that this year it will flood again when it rains. They have already sent a letter to INVIFA but, for the moment, they have not received a response. The only thing she is sure of, she admits, is that she is "ashamed" to invite her friends to her house.
