70% of residents in the former Palma prison cannot access social services
Half of the 208 people who were counted in the last census have already left the property
PalmA 70% of the 101 people living in the old Palma jail do not have access to social services or housing alternatives, according to statements made this Monday by Mayor Jaime Martínez. Despite Martínez assuring that access to social services depends on the residents' "voluntariness," he also pointed out that "there are people who cannot access social resources because there is a regulation" and that "people in irregular situations cannot access them." Martínez himself was the one who emphasized that "70%" of the residents of the old jail "are in an irregular administrative situation."
Therefore, the vast majority of people in this situation cannot voluntarily decide whether or not to access social resources, but rather find themselves in a situation where receiving care and housing alternatives is not possible for them. In any case, the extraordinary regularization process currently underway "will mark a new scenario," said the mayor.
![A man at the old Palma prison during the first day of the eviction.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 9"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On the other hand, Martínez has detailed that, of the 208 people who registered in the last census, only 101 are still living in this property today. The mayor explained that "many have left the old jail to move to the mainland", although there are also those who have entered jail and shelters. 45 people have been referred to IMAS. As for the people who have left, Martínez has assured that they have done so "voluntarily", although he has acknowledged that some have received financial assistance to leave Palma.
Once the Palma City Council dismissed all the residents' appeals to avoid their eviction, they were notified of the obligation to leave the premises, with five days to do so. 101 in-person notifications have been made, and those that could not be delivered personally will be published in the BOE – there are also five days after the publication. "When the deadline expires, the file will be sent to the court to carry out the eviction," explained Martínez, in addition to recalling that the possessory recovery process began on February 27.
