“There are always people walking here”

Although homelessness in the capital fell by nine percent Over the past year, it has consolidated itself in spaces visible to all. Centro is the neighborhood with the highest number of people living on the streets, followed by Arganzuela, according to data from Madrid City Hall thanks to monitoring by the Street Team. The usual profile is made up of people of 46 and 55 years old, which is installed in areas like Gran Vía because it presents itself to them as a haven of safety. They know that if there is a feeling of danger, there will always be witnesses.

At least that’s what Emilia and Florín feel, a couple of Romanian origin whose life takes place between acquaintances’ apartments and the street. They arrived in Spain in 2000 and spent fourteen years in the same house until his contract expired and they were evicted for non-payment of bills.

After spending the night in Carabanchel Alto for a while, they decided to settle in the center. “The police come by regularly and there are people passing by until three or four in the morning. And when daylight comes, we start to see walkers again. On the one hand, you are safe by overtaking the police. Additionally, the dog barks if someone approaches. “It’s street life,” Florín explains.

Of the 1,015 homeless people recorded by the municipality during its last count, the majority are men. 86% contrast with the 14% womena vulnerable group due to exposure to gender-based violence. It is for this reason that they have become the target of many campaigns. In the street, it is common to find them accompanied, as is the case with Emilia, who barely speaks. She lets him be the speaker, just nods and observes with her deep blue eyes.

Her dog Emi, with an orange coat, is wrapped in Florín’s arms while she gives him kisses. It’s the two of them, he says, who give him hope. “I’m not with the posters, those who want to leave something, do it. No one bothers me and the staff here know us,” he says, referring to nearby restaurants, which often offer them food.

Reluctance to social intervention

“In recent months it has been confirmed that homeless people are spending the night in more central and visible locations. They choose areas with traffic and an influx of people because it strengthens their feeling of security», Say sources from the Department of Social Policies, Family and Equality at the Town Hall. They say that they frequently come to offer them the services available, but that it is not always easy to reach them. “In some cases there is hesitation to launch this process of social intervention which, as provided for in the Social Services Law of the Community of Madrid, must be voluntarily accepted», they argue.

Even though the cold takes over in winter, Ion refuses to go to available centers for fear of being separated from his dog Ronda. He also assures that no one approached him to offer him public services. “Nobody passes through here”, has a palpable feeling of abandonment. “Family is there when you have money. I have nothing, only her, my girlfriend. “That’s my daughter,” he said, placing a thick blanket over her.

Both have lived on the asphalt of Madrid’s Gran Vía for almost five years. In your case, the choice is not a question of security but of knowledge. He can’t move from this street because his eyes won’t allow him, a fog blurs his right pupil. He is 85% blind, and although he has been in Spain for twenty-eight years, the capital beyond this central street has become a mystery. He doesn’t recognize anything else, his life oscillates between the memory of his native Romania and the corner from which he has barely moved since he became homeless.

After several years of sinking on the same cobblestones, he also noticed the increase in the number of homeless people on Gran Vía. Many of them, Ion says, suffer from addictions. “There are so many people on this street begging to get high, to drink alcohol. And then there are people like me who are looking for a job. But no one cares,” he denounces. Caught in the Christmas frenzy, few come forward to offer help in the form of coins. With this growth, also the number of animals has increased. He says that “once there weren’t any here and now they came with cats, dogs and so many animals. “There are people with pit bulls and rottweilers on the street.”

In his last job, his salary did not reach 600 euros per month while working “24 hours a day”, according to what he told this newspaper. He decided that this was not the life and that he preferred the vicissitudes of a life without a secure livelihood. Today, he no longer knows how to return to his previous life, without the possibility of preparing to apply for a job. He was a cook, a naval crewman, a doorman, a secretary and many other things that already belong to a past that he tries to transform into the present by means of numerous posters asking for work or food.

“Change is for you, not for us”

For those who live on the streets, life never stops striving to have unfortunate surprises in store for them. For Ion, there have been many bad experiences, like last year when a man hit Ronda. On another occasion, a person who came to offer food to her dog poisoned her. “In just two minutes I found her foaming at the mouth and lying on the floor. Many people passing by saw him and none of them cared, just to take pictures,” she says angrily, because she is the only friend who, even without a leash, did not leave. He was saved thanks to a Russian woman, who paid for a taxi and the veterinarian.

“Life is bad, life is bad,” Florín repeats like a mantra. He had to leave his job due to mental disability issues and, at 64, “even my mother, who passed away, cannot take care of me.” He still hopes that this bad life will change, an optimism that Ion does not share. He predicts an eternity in the streets, whatever the political situation in the country: “Nothing is going to change, each party is looking out for its own benefit. Change is for you, not us“.