October 27th
News articles from the eviction of Nadie Sin Hogar on “El Mundo” :
Time: 6:16PM
Location: Paseo del Prado of Atocha, Madrid
According to several news outlets such as “El Mundo” and “El Diario,” the evictions on Friday, October 4 were called upon by the Mayor, Almeida, which involved local and national police officers.
The demographics of the Nadie Sin Hogar (N.S.H) movement included people from all over the world including Guatemalans, Colombians, and Spanish and European peoples. During the eviction, there were 141 tents of individuals and the law enforcement included “94 Municipal agents and 50 national preventive agents” and these numbers are close to those of Nadie Sin Hogar, but not quite ( Roces, p.1, 2019).
Due to the power dynamic between the police officers and vulnerable indivuals of Nadie Sin Hogar, the people did not stand a fair chance against the police operation.
The mayor of Madrid ordered the operation in belief that the movement was done illegally and that many were claiming a false sense of “homelessness” as they put it. According to El Mundo, “The police operation… has identified 87 people during the eviction- one of them arrested B/c he had legal claims” (Roces, p.1, 2019). I think that when reading articles or newspapers on global or local issues, its important to take what law enforcement says w/ a grain of salt, because within bureaucracies, the truest intentions and claims are hard to figure out.
Most governments have proven themselves to work within politics and the law w/o the words or inputs of the public they supposedly “represent.”
Mayor Martinez Almeida stated “The eviction is an example of coordination between administrations to guarantee security in our city” and later stated the performance was “effective and fast… with the least number of Damage” (Roces, p.1, 2019). The governor of Madrid then stated “[The eviction] is a sign of commitment of the Madrid City Council that the street cannot be occupied or privatized… and the [Consistory] will not shake the pulse in the eviction of illegal concentrations.” (Roces, p.1, 2019). These words from the politicians of Madrid were concerning, because it emphasizes how not only are they not addressing this huge issue of thousands and thousands of people being without homes, but they have also discredited (or least they have attempted to) the movement and urgency of undomiciled people.
After the chaos of the movement, Mikky Carrera (he is mentioned earlier in my field notes, and I also had the pleasure of briefly speaking to him via Twitter mentions) he stated “ We do not contemplate moving the claim to another place [meaning, away from the Ministry of Health, Social Politics, and Equality].” And he continues stating “ The most suitable place is in front of the Ministry, which is the one that articulates the State policies; in from of the Congress, which is the Chamber where the laws are made, and in front of the City Hall door, B/c they are those who have the competence transferred to make that protection effective”(Roces, p.1, 2019). Those words by Carrera coincide with the response by the twitter account of Nadie Sin Hogar that stated “Por el moments nstamos reorganizadonos. Tras el desalojo nos dispersaron a differences centers de acogida (y okra gente quad en la Calle) y el tart de Services Sociales sobre la gente #sinhogar de la acampada #NadieSinHogar ha side de “casting”. Gracias por apoyar” Translation: At the moment we are reorganizing ourselves. After the eviction they dispersed us to different reception centers (and other people stay on the street) and the social services treatment of people #sinhogar of the camping #NadieSinHogar it has been “punishment.” Thanks for supporting. After they responded to me, I tried to asking if there was anyone at al I could have spoken to, but I didnt receive an answer, so I did not advance further.
After I had the short conversation with the N.S.H community via twitter, I realized that there had to be a strong sense of trauma after all of their property was taken away from them. After the eviction, there were 45 people from the environment oriented areas with 16 trunks, two flushers, and two swepers who removed everything from their tents to their pots and pans they used in their kitchen (Roces, p.1, 2019).
I visited Atocha, Madrid after the eviction, and I saw that environmental personnel were still cleaning up the streets, washing the grounds w/ large trucks and ensuring that there wasnt garbage on the grounds.
Moving forward, I am reorganizing myself, and I am trying to figure out where I can go now in regards to finding content that will support my research.
Translation: “Eviction of the encampment of homeless of Paseo Del Prado”
I have reorganized my question to:
What are the attitudes towards undomiciled people and its attributions, including the Nadie Sin Hogar movement that was recently evicted from public spaces?
This question was formed by the obvious anti-homeless architecture throughout Spain, specifically in Madrid and the falsely assumed attributions of houselessness and how the government has done nothing to address this issue.
After doing a lot of research on this issue as well as the recent eviction of Nadie Sin Hogar, I found a charitable organization called Caritas, who donates and assesses the problems of excluded members of society, including undomiciled people. I have emailed them, asking if I could interview them about undomiciled people in Madrid and Alcala de Henares, Spain since they have an office in Alcala. I hopeful for new information I will gather!
Moving forward, I will continue to pursue:
- Speaking to organizations who are helping those of N.S.H
- Interview professors regarding their attitudes towards undomiciled people
Fall Research Portfolio 