The cold is accumulating in one of the buildings at Block 13-15, on Calle Real de Collado Villalba – occupied for five years – but Blanca doesn’t want to bother buying a heater. Besides the bottles in which water is collected from public sources daily, there are a pair of bags. The 57-year-old Colombian woman takes her belongings to a friend’s house because she fears a mass eviction could take place at any moment. Her daughter Heidi lives in the same building next to her counterpart and her daughter. The warning that comes is clear: “Quieren dejarnos en la calle.” La Asamblea de Vivienda de Villalba denounced that Ayuntamiento “will soon attempt the precautionary evacuation of a building in which more than 100 vulnerable people live.” But the Consistorio and the Asset Management Association resulting from the restructuring of banks (SARB) – due to the property and which will be dissolved in 2027 – do not believe that there is an intention at this moment to vacate the building.
“Here we live very well,” Blanca highlights. He left it months ago during the siege, after one of his acquaintances abandoned the floor he was occupying. There is everything you need in this 30 square meter space: bed, kitchen, electricity and bathroom, although the building has no water supply. There are 70 houses inhabited mostly by migrants, many of whom are undocumented. Some of these have been covered up in previous evacuations. The adjacent building containing the same building houses 16 homes, but has been empty since 2022, when a fire broke out and the building was displaced. The ancients are known and lived by name. “Te veo en laguardia”, dice blanca. They are organized to control the blockade and prevent problems related to drug sales or robots. “When something happened in the pueblo, the police and the Civil Guard opened the doors, knocking on one door after another,” Blanca recalls.
In the precedent of 2022 and the eviction at the beginning of October from building No. 19 on Trinidad Street, also in Sarip, where new people live as settlers, there was space in building 13-15. Asamblea de Vivienda de Villalba says that on October 30, a municipal architect visited the property with the aim of “preparing a report to justify the preventive evacuation.” According to his version, something similar happened on Calle Trinidad. After a few days of inspection, the eviction was carried out “without a judicial order.” For this reason, they accuse the Council of doing the “dirty work” for Sarib. Marta, 60 years old, walks with the help of a cane and passes through Gate 13-15, where she and Joaquina greet her. They both lived in the building on Calle Trinidad and were evicted on the same day. “They did not allow me to get anything, and I did not give up my medication,” he says regretfully. Meanwhile, he shows off photos of the few items he managed to recover from a storage container, but finds that what he extracts most are the photos of his family that remain inside the property.
In the case of the building on Calle Trinidad, the mayor of Collado Villalba, Mariola Vargas (People’s Party), confirmed that “at no time was a break requested.” Days before the fire broke out, and while it was being tended to, firefighters reported on the site’s conditions. That’s why the inspection was requested first. He explains, “The owner (Sarb) was asked to evacuate the residents living inside it due to his health condition that is not compatible with his life.” On the day of the eviction, Marta handed over the decision issued by the Ayuntamiento which included the minutes with the inspector’s notes. The document cites safety deficiencies, such as the lack of electrical cables in the original installation, false ceilings with spots, elevators that did not work, and a facade with calcified elements. There are also deficiencies in sanitary and sanitary conditions, with low levels of greywater and faecal water, waste accumulation, and a lack of drinking water supplies. Lasarb says that in light of an administrative order, nothing can be done to prevent the eviction.
On Calle Real, squatters fear the same thing will happen to them. At the end of October, a fire broke out – without casualties – and for this reason the council sent an inspector. On the eve of what was specified in its minutes, the Asamblea de Vivienda de Villalba published the technical report prepared by the architect it had appointed, concluding that the building was “completely safe to live in”. In the document, the architect notes that the property represents a “solid and stable structural condition, without serious diseases and obvious risks to the safety of its occupants.” However, when asked if this report was valid for the Ayuntamiento, Mayor Mariola Vargas replied: “It is not just about the House of Representatives. It has no legal identity recognized in our municipality. This report is invalid, it just says a series of things that do not fit with reality.” “It’s based on faulty data.”
Neighbors insist the building is in good condition and are requesting a social tenant from Sarp. Blanca works as a housecleaner and earns €900 a month, although Marta says she can pay a maximum of €400 in rent. They cannot live for free, but they say that as the price of a house rises, “access to a suitable option becomes very complicated” and they do not fall into a “different alternative to settlement”. “Here everyone works – the majority are black – but they miss the social tenant because they don’t have documents, although some do,” says Blanca.
Asamblea de Vivienda de Villalba reports that 42 families are negotiating with Sarib about social rent. Since he knew how Malo Bank They must work in housing of 17 families that meet the conditions for signing a social tenancy contract. They also state that there are 25 families who “cannot cooperate,” because “they are not allowed to enter the building, they do not provide documents or they are not at risk and do not want to enter the process.” Sarb also has 11 families in an irregular situation who “cannot conclude a social tenancy contract.”
Before the Real Street building was occupied, it had been abandoned for 12 years. The company responsible for the construction collapsed in 2008, and since December 2021, the property has been owned by… Malo Bankwhich acquired the property in the bidding process. At that moment, the building was occupied. Sources from Serib confirm that, legally, they cannot enter to “fix Griffin.” The property also has a certificate of habitability or first occupancy licence. It currently forms part of the perimeter of the buildings that SARB will hand over to the new public housing company so that they can be used for affordable rent.
As the Ayuntamiento de Collado Villalba explains, even without obtaining a first operating licence, the building is “incompatible with the existence of a lease”. “Legally, it’s a business. You can’t live inside it,” insists Mayor Mariola Vargas. He also blames Sarb: “If they knew there were people inside, they would have to maintain their security. If they didn’t, they would have this council dedicated to this purpose, and they would never defraud anyone who lives in this municipality.” The functions of Building 13-15 ensure that social services do not help them, but the Consistorio ensures that they are “not there” to be helped.
Sarb contacted the government department to inform him of how the process of regularizing the status of people living in the occupied building on Calle Real was going. “If their situation is settled, Sareb can proceed with studying a social lease contract,” sources support Malo BankHe adds that they are “there to help” vulnerable residents living in the building.