Today’s council meeting began amid great tension owing to the presence and protests of residents affected by the imminent eviction from 62 homes on calle Sarmiento, scheduled for next week (10, 11 and 12 February).
Residents’ reproaches
Those affected said they feel «betrayed» and abandoned by the Town Hall. They sharply reproached the governing team for the lack of real housing solutions, stressing that many families have been paying their rent faithfully for more than a decade (some for up to 14 years) and now find themselves on the street because of the foreclosure brought by a «vulture fund». They criticise the institution for not having acted sooner or more forcefully to halt the process.
The mayor, Mario Jiménez, tried to calm tempers by arguing that the Town Hall does not have the budget to buy the building (whose auction price was around 14,000€ per flat). He pointed out that, according to his figures, of the 62 families only about 25 would be in a documented situation of «vulnerability». The council’s official position is that it has asked the Junta de Andalucía to assess each case individually to see who can qualify for the Plan Vive, and that it is trying to negotiate a moratorium, although it admits the difficulty of stopping the court order so few days before it is carried out, announcing that tomorrow, Friday, it plans to hold a meeting with the current representatives of the owner in order to try to reach an agreement that would allow the eviction order to be postponed.
Uncertainty and the last hope: tomorrow’s meeting
Despite the political debate, the council meeting ended with a big unknown that keeps those affected on tenterhooks: there are serious doubts as to whether the legal owner of the homes will be willing to attend the negotiating table.
With the eviction date so close, all of these families’ hopes now rest on the meeting planned for tomorrow, Friday. This meeting is shaping up as the last real chance to try to halt the process or secure a moratorium.
In an attempt to ease distrust of the Town Hall’s handling of the matter, it has been agreed that a representative of the group of those affected will attend the meeting. Their presence is intended to guarantee transparency, allowing them to learn first-hand the real positions and the possible agreements, or the lack of them, discussed during the session.
Summary of the other items dealt with at the council meeting
Once this first contentious item had been dealt with, the session continued with other matters of municipal management:
Public Safety (Burglaries): The mayor confirmed the arrest of the suspected perpetrator of the wave of burglaries that had alarmed residents in recent weeks. It was reported that he was arrested in a joint operation by the Local Police and the Guardia Civil.
Gender Violence (VioGén): The incorporation of the Local Police into the VioGén system has been approved, which will allow better monitoring and protection of victims of gender violence in the municipality.
Citizen Participation: The go-ahead has been given for the creation of the Local Council for Citizen Participation, a body to encourage residents’ involvement in public life.
Whistleblowing Channel: The regulations for the Town Hall’s new whistleblowing channel were discussed, a measure of transparency and regulatory compliance.
Financial Control: The Annual Financial Control Plan for the 2026 financial year was presented.
