Families residing in Lanzarote are experiencing a desperate situation due to the lack of housing in Playa Blanca. Around 100 families have settled in abandoned houses for three years to have a home. The Civil Guard notified them this past Thursday that they must leave the apartments by October 31 or they will be evicted immediately.
Entire families who work, are residents and have lived in Lanzarote for years. They are not looking to "stay as squatters", they know they have to "leave", they only want to "have more time" and be able to access a home in which to rebuild a new life. The last notice they had was the deadline until November 7 to leave the properties, a deadline that has been reduced. "We are going to go to the Court to find out", one of those affected assured this Friday.
Entire families and an 80-year-old man
Most are around 35 years old, although there are also children, the elderly and many young people. One of the families, made up of eight people, lives in a five-room house and tells La Voz about the difficult days they are going through. "We have no home to go to, nor family that can help us," says one of them. A panorama that is complicated considering her condition: "My wife is expecting a baby," adds the man.
Some arrived three years ago to the houses and others have been there relatively little time, specifically, a few months. Time in which they have dedicated themselves to cleaning up the houses that were in "very poor condition". "There was even human and animal excrement inside the houses," says the neighbor. "They were completely abandoned, for not having, they didn't even have a bathroom," he reveals. A cleaning and modification that they have been carrying out "little by little" with the "limited resources", until turning the houses into habitable ones.
"They were completely abandoned, for not having, they didn't even have a bathroom"
All of them have met during the week to provide solutions and find a place to stay. "None of us has access to a home," the man stressed. This Friday they will hold another meeting to address the situation.
"We can pay rent since we work, but we need them to make it easier for us to find a home"
They ask for "solidarity" and implore the Government of the Canary Islands to "give them a solution". They suggest that they make available to them "a temporary alternative" in which to stay and also, regulate the problem of housing in Lanzarote, with "more apartments for rent and not so much for vacation rentals." "We do not have the opportunity to access a rental to have a decent home," they lament. The harsh reality is that "most of us are going to end up on the street", once the eviction takes effect.
At the moment, they have an assigned lawyer who will help them to "try to delay the eviction", they told the newspaper during the morning of this Friday.
