What does it mean for someone who sees the suffering of many families every day to see the way the "Solidarity Kilo" campaign is carried out?
I think that the Department of Social Services completely lost the plot. They simply wanted to take a photo to dazzle the people, which is really what they have done. They have had no responsibility whatsoever for how the food is administered, where it is collected and stored, and who distributes it. I think they completely lost it there. We are living in a very difficult situation and not only politicians are responsible, we all are, we all have to support and help. The distribution of food does not seem to me to be the function of the Department of Social Services. On the other hand, there was already another food collection campaign organized that was starting to work, people were starting to be very supportive. Many people have come to the dining room with food, people who buy food for their home and another for the dining room, people who have collected products from the land and share them with us.
As a result of this disastrous action, have citizens stopped being supportive?
I think that people are responding within their means. There are people who give what they really need, but give it up to give it to others. We must be very grateful for the generosity of the people of Lanzarote, politicians are the least aware of this reality, that people are suffering. Currently we have a struggle to be able to create a shelter, which is a very great need, but politicians say that they do not have the infrastructure for it or that there are no means, I think that what there is not is will or commitment. Personally, I criticize the fact that they have built so many things that do not work or do not serve for anything other than wasting money, such as the center for the elderly in San Francisco Javier or the nursery, which do not work and are closed rotting. There is a Youth Center falling apart, the Inalsa offices of the Cabildo are also closed? When there is a catastrophe is when people really get going, look for means and solve the problem, my question is: why not try then to alleviate the situation of helplessness that many people are experiencing?
Have you spoken to any politician these days, after this event?
No, no one has come to talk to me.
We know that part of the solidarity kilo was destined for Calor y Café. It has been said that it was hundreds of kilos, is that true?
Food arrived to us but not "those hundreds of kilos" that are being talked about. When I received it, I did not take into account the quantity, but at most 350 kilos, and I don't think it was that much. They asked me if I had received a pallet of milk and in reality I don't even have space to store it here, much less a van of water. I buy ten eight-liter bottles a day because I don't have anywhere to put more.
Did Juan Fernando Fernández, who was an advisor to the PIL in the City Council, also come to you?
Yes, he came with a paper saying that I had received a van of food and I replied: "I cannot sign that I received it because saying "a van of food" does not make the quantity clear, it can be full or contain little quantity. The only thing I sign is the approximate quantity that I consider I received. This man was clearly very distressed by the situation he was being involved in.
From the point of view of Social Services, do you think there should be more monitoring or a consultation committee in which the different entities that help the population have a place?
From the Social Services of the Cabildo, the Social Services of the town councils and all the aid institutions we have been participating since October in some meetings, but the Department of Arrecife has not participated in them, but have lived on the sidelines, despite the fact that they were sent a letter requesting their presence. One day a social worker showed up but she did not have any data on the situation and therefore could not participate. The only thing the Arrecife City Council has done is to speak out against the creation of the social shelter.