The residents of Valterra who live in the homes of the Social Marine Institute have slept much more peacefully tonight. The tenants no longer fear being evicted, despite the fact that three canneries, Rocar, Garavilla and Ojeda, have requested ownership of these houses. This very Wednesday they met with the legal services of the Social Marine Institute in Madrid and left "happy and excited" from this meeting.
The Institute has assured them that the property of this land belongs to it and that it will allow the residents to continue enjoying these houses in usufruct. However, the 70 families who feared being left on the street still have to wait for the sentence to be handed down, which will have to determine whether the Social Marine Institute is really the owner of these homes.
This conflict dates back to the 1950s, when 70 of the 200 social houses were built, promoted by the Marine Institute. The canning companies that, at that time, operated in Arrecife, have claimed ownership of those houses. The trial has already been held in Madrid and now we are awaiting the sentence, which is expected in two months.
For the moment, the residents have already obtained the support of the Social Marine Institute in a meeting that took place this Wednesday, sponsored by the national deputy of the Canarian Coalition, Ana Oramas, who accompanied three residents to Madrid. "The residents can now sleep peacefully. The legal services of the Institute assure that the property of the land is theirs and that as long as it is, we can continue living there," says Antonio Betancort, one of the attendees at this meeting.
In this same sense, he has indicated that if the sentence is not positive for the Social Marine Institute, it will go to "the Court of The Hague to claim what belongs to it". "If we have to go to The Hague, they will go," he stressed.
The suspicions of an "urban plot" for this land
Since the canneries claimed ownership of these houses, suspicions about what could be built on this land have been growing. "I don't know what they intend to do with the Valterra land, but we will find out, we will dig, because there is something there. We will dedicate ourselves to investigating what real estate plot has had to be there to try to snatch our houses and the land," Antonio Betancort has defended.
"The politicians have had us from pillar to post, dancing with us and, in the end, we have had to learn to take steps alone. We pay politicians to sit in the armchair and that makes a lot of anger and is an impotence," he denounced.
"The politicians have teased and bullfighted us"
In this sense, Betancort has taken advantage of the interview on Radio Lanzarote to criticize several politicians who, according to him, have not helped "in anything" the affected residents. Among them is the socialist Miguel González. "He said that we had it very bad and worried us a lot. In the end, we have had to go to Madrid to find out what was happening with our houses," Betancort pointed out.
And, according to what he has indicated, the residents have encountered many obstacles during this entire litigation. "The politicians have been teasing, bullfighting and manipulating us. We have gone to the City Council to ask for information and to ask for help from the politicians, who have only put obstacles in our way," he denounced.
On the contrary, Betancort wanted to highlight the work of both Ana Oramas and the former national deputy of the PSOE, Olivia Cedrés. "They have worried about us," defended this resident of Valterra.
Now, these residents have a feeling of "relief" after the meeting held with the Social Marine Institute. They know that it is only a first step, as they are still waiting to know the sentence, but they hope to be able to keep the houses in which they have been living for more than 50 years.
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[Residents of Valterra fear being evicted "because of" three canneries that claim ownership of 70 houses->46755]
