The spokesperson for the Socialist Municipal Group, Reyes Maroto, urged this Thursday the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, to "stop making a fool of himself" with his criticisms about security in the housing camp at Puerta del Sol and, instead, implement effective measures such as putting vacant housing into use.
Maroto made these statements to the media during the presentation of the initiative that the PSOE in the City Council will take to the plenary sessions of the 21 Municipal District Boards, with the aim of demanding that the City Council mobilize the 1,300 unoccupied municipal homes in response to evictions.
"I ask Mr. Almeida to stop looking the other way, to listen to the citizens, and to put on the table the solutions that are within his competencies" in the face of the "housing emergency" that Madrid is experiencing, she emphasized, also demanding that he "stop making a fool of himself" with reports on the presence of knives, cobblestones, and graffiti in Sol.
The socialist leader reiterated that the Madrid mayor must address the demands from the streets and implement concrete measures against this "housing emergency." "He has decided to do nothing, and that is benefiting speculators and making life impossible for many families," she denounced.
In this line, she announced that the Socialist Municipal Group will again register in the extraordinary Plenary of Cibeles on the housing emergency, initially scheduled for the 5th, the urgent motion that was not debated in the regular session on Tuesday. This motion proposes to mobilize these vacant municipal homes within a maximum period of three months and to approve a protocol for the prevention of evictions aimed at vulnerable families.
These two requests will now be transferred to the 21 districts of the city. "This is a matter of social emergency and, therefore, these homes must be made available to families to protect what they care about most, which are their homes. And we do this in the district boards because it is the closest administration, because it is also the administration that with its social services can help prevent evictions, and because it is where life in the neighborhoods takes place," she argued.
In the proposals that will be presented before the Municipal District Boards, the PSOE also proposes to strengthen the work of the Social Services of each district, which it considers key to detecting situations of residential vulnerability, conducting an early assessment of the affected families, and coordinating with the municipal areas responsible for housing.
Likewise, the socialists will demand in each district that the administrative procedures be expedited so that the currently vacant municipal housing can be allocated as soon as possible and be prioritized for cases of residential emergency and special vulnerability.
"Almeida cannot look the other way while Madrid families lose their homes. Citizens are demanding solutions from the administrations in light of the seriousness of the housing crisis. And Almeida has to step up for once," Maroto has reiterated.
The socialist spokesperson has also taken the opportunity to address the PP at the national level and ask that this Friday it supports with its votes the ratification of the two royal decree laws on housing approved by the Council of Ministers this Tuesday. "The Popular Party has to show its true colors because its votes would be enough to approve the two royal decrees," she has pointed out.