The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has emphasized that the City Council of the capital offers Maricarmen, the octogenarian neighbor facing the fourth eviction attempt from her home in the Retiro district where she has lived for 71 years, "an immediate housing resource" if she accepts it, considering that the administrations "cannot just step aside."
"None of us would like to live a situation like the one Maricarmen is experiencing at this moment, and from a human point of view, I believe it is a very tough and very difficult situation she is going through. From the point of view of the governments, what we have to do is, each one in the scope of our competencies, not step aside but try to alleviate a dramatic situation due to the age and physical condition that this lady has," he pointed out during the presentation of the new image of the Samur ambulances.
The mayor has remarked that "the City Council has put all the means of its Social Services at her disposal." He detailed that it has "of course, [the] teleassistance service, 90 hours of home help service with occupational therapy, there is contact with Samur-Civil Protection, the Samur Social is currently also in the vicinity where the eviction is taking place."
Furthermore, he reiterated that "if that eviction is definitively executed, the Social Services of the City Council of Madrid are in immediate conditions to provide an assistance and housing resource to Maricarmen so that, immediately, she can have a roof under which she can sleep, rest, and try to recover from the physical and psychological situation she is currently in."
Respect for the judicial mandate and cross-criticism
Regarding the procedure, the mayor has stressed that, despite being "a dramatic situation," the eviction "obeys a judicial mandate and judicial mandates must be obeyed." When asked about the position of the Government Delegation and the criticisms coming from the Ministry of Housing, he indicated that he would not evaluate their actions due to "the seriousness of the situation."
"From there, what other administrations do... in light of the seriousness of the situation being experienced, I am not going to get involved," he stated before the media, recalling that the City Council has been "the subject of criticism from the Minister of Housing," Isabel Rodríguez, and pointing out that, in his opinion, the Government delegate, Francisco Martín, "wants to step aside, when the National Police depends on him."
Martínez-Almeida emphasized that "respecting the situation that Maricarmen is experiencing requires that at this moment each Administration gives its best to try to alleviate a drama like the one that is occurring as a consequence of that eviction."
He added that "it will be the other administrations that will have to explain what they have done or what they have not done, but I can say that the City of Madrid, through its Social Services, has put all the means to try to alleviate a situation like the one that is unfortunately being experienced at this moment."
Certificate of vulnerability and resources offered
The mayor wanted to clarify, in response to the minister's statements, that the City Council has indeed processed Maricarmen's certificate of vulnerability. "I ask the Minister of Housing to respect Maricarmen and that respect for a situation like the one she is experiencing at this moment requires that she does not lie and does not seek useless confrontations. I am not going to seek that useless confrontation, I am not going to seek that sterile controversy," he assured.
He also emphasized that the City Council "has indeed offered accommodation to Maricarmen in previous situations." "Our services have contacted Maricarmen to be able to offer her alternatives to the situation she is experiencing," he indicated.
As he explained, that contact is not limited "not today, when of course Samur Social is there ready to offer them alternatives, but in previous situations where the eviction had already been anticipated, although it had not been executed. The City of Madrid had also contacted to be able to offer her certain assistance resources."