Two people sleep on a bench in Arrecife. They rest on it despite the rains this Thursday morning. The raw image was taken by a reader at 9:00 a.m., when "the last rains were still falling." This reader wanted to share it with La Voz because he still can't believe that this image can occur in Lanzarote.
The two people are sleeping "outdoors", on a bench that is located at the entrance of Arrecife, near the bowling club. "I never thought I could see this image in my life in Lanzarote. A couple sleeping on a bench in the street. A regrettable and sad situation that we are experiencing," says this reader, who assures that situations like these have to "stop now."
But, unfortunately, this image is repeated in different areas of the capital. From Calor y Café, they estimate that around "50 people" do not have a roof to sleep under in Arrecife. However, they also insist that "the number is much smaller" than in the "La Rocar era", when many homeless people lived inside this old cannery.
The president of Calor y Café, Sister Ana, has assured that what has increased is the number of users who come to the soup kitchen of this association. Before the crisis, about 40 people used to eat at the association's facilities. Now, it reaches 70 people.
Lanzarote users at Calor y Café
Users who "have been there on previous occasions, who have stopped coming and are now forced to return" as a result of the economic crisis come to this soup kitchen. But, fundamentally, there are "new" people, from Lanzarote, who are starting to eat at this facility "for the first time."
"The new users are mostly families from here. Lanzarote families who no longer have any benefits," said Sister Ana, who explained "how difficult it is" for the locals to have to ask for this type of help. "They don't have a good time, because it's not normal," she said. In this sense, she explained that many times they "meet neighbors, people they know." At first it is "an embarrassment" for them, but in the end "the situation softens."
Precisely because of this difficult time of going to a soup kitchen, Sister Ana believes that there are "many people in Lanzarote who are in quite extreme need" and, however, "do not ask for help because it is embarrassing."
