A dozen officers from the Ibiza Local Police and fifteen from the National Police arrived, early this Tuesday, at the Sa Joveria plot, located next to the city’s fairgrounds, to evict the island’s largest shantytown settlement, which in recent months has grown to more than 130 people living in caravans, shacks, and tents. A good part of its inhabitants were workers from the hospitality, construction, and cleaning sectors who did not have sufficient income to pay the rent for a home or a room in a completely strained real estate market like that of the Pitiusan island.
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“I’ve been living here for 30 years, working honestly. How can a person like me, with four children, work if they have nowhere to sleep?” cried a man who, along with a dozen people, was still on the plot early in the morning and was devastated at having to leave.
The eviction proceeded without incident as there were hardly any people left inside the more than 100 huts and shacks counted by the police. Shortly before ten in the morning, in addition to police units, technicians from the Social Services department of the Ibiza City Council moved to the area, who were able to assist residents who requested it to check if they are candidates to receive any type of benefit.
The City Council has provided emergency accommodation places for seven family units and has enabled another seven places for adults without family responsibilities. In addition, several municipal environmental technicians and operators from the municipal cleaning company remained on site to control the management of waste found on the plot, which had accumulated for years, especially butane gas cylinders and batteries. A good part of the residents in this settlement were people of Sahrawi origin, employed in sectors such as hospitality and construction.
The mayor of Ibiza, Rafael Triguero, from the PP, stated that carrying out the eviction has been one of the most difficult decisions he has had to make as mayor and insisted that he did so for a matter of “responsibility and justice” towards the people who were occupying the land in unsafe conditions. “People who plan to come to Ibiza under these conditions, please look for another location where they have a housing solution,” he urged.
During the operation, the local police verified that there were people living in shacks, in subhuman conditions, who were paying between 200 and 500 euros to third parties who were taking advantage of their vulnerable situation. “We will be relentless with those who exploit the housing crisis,” said Triguero.
The caravans installed on the land were not forced to leave, as there was no judicial eviction order against them, so the families living in them were able to stay. The Sa Joveria plot has been used in recent months by more than 130 people, according to Local Police data, to set up a roof under which to sleep: from caravans to tents, including huts made of wood and cardboard. The settlement grew over the months, accommodating people expelled from other lands on the island.
The Ibiza City Council had been warning its owners for several months about the need to adapt the plot due to an evident risk of environmental contamination and the danger that the installation of dozens of shanties posed to public health. Given the owners’ inability to carry it out, the City Council initiated a judicial process that on March 20 authorized the entry, dismantling, and cleaning of the property. The eviction of the Can Misses plot, the largest remaining settlement in the city after the dismantling of Sa Joveria, is scheduled for April 29.
