The City Council evicts the old Palma prison: "Tonight I will sleep on the street"

PalmaThe Palma City Council has evicted the old Palma prison after a court authorized its execution due to the high risk that, according to various technical reports, the state of the property represents for the people who still reside there. The operation, coordinated between the Local Police and the National Police, began at 12 noon and lasted for a large part of the day. One of the evicted, Bernardino, a 60-year-old Italian who was evicted, criticized being treated like a drug trafficker and commented to journalists: "Tonight I will sleep on the street, in this park, what a mess."

This homeless man had been living in the old prison for three years and, after the eviction began at noon, he left with a cart carrying his belongings and a large suitcase. "I have nowhere to go, I'll have a few beers and sleep here," in the small outdoor space with trees next to the prison where there are wooden benches, he explained.

Very angry, Bernardino has complained about the eviction of the people who resided in this space until today. "This mayor (Jaime Martínez) is no good, he needs to be changed," he declared to journalists.

The mayor announces arrests during the eviction

During the visit to the prison, the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, explained that within the forced eviction process, which culminated this Tuesday afternoon, several arrests have been made with orders for expulsion from the country. "These people are already in judicial disposition," he detailed. Martínez also said that "today is an important day" because after 12 years the prison has been evicted in a process he described as "normalized."

However, sources close to the police operation have informed Europa Press that throughout this day only one person with a judicial claim has been arrested. The criminal acts with which this person would be involved, they stressed, have nothing to do with the eviction of the old prison. The same sources indicated that over the past few days they have carried out other arrests around the property, not inside. Investigators do not know if these people, many arrested for immigration law violations, lived in the prison or not.

The action comes almost four months after the City Council launched the procedure for the recovery of possession of the building, which has been occupied for years. According to municipal data, when the process began, 206 people lived there. As the months passed, and as a result of social services' actions, the figure has been reduced to about 70 people who still occupied the old prison modules.

The judicial decision is based on reports prepared by the Local Police, Palma Firefighters, and health services, which warned of a "real, serious, and current risk" to the life and physical integrity of the residents. Among the main problems detected were the high risk of fire, serious habitability deficiencies, and evacuation difficulties in case of emergency.

During the operation, municipal social services have remained deployed, offering temporary housing alternatives and insertion pathways to those affected. An ambulance from 061 has also been available to attend to any incidents that might occur during the eviction. In particular, Cort has set up four prefabricated huts, installed at the Central Firefighters' Park, where those evicted from the city's old prison can stay for two nights. This temporary resource, launched on the same day as the forced eviction of the approximately 70 people still residing in the building, will be able to accommodate those who do not have immediate housing alternatives.

The four modules are air-conditioned and equipped with beds provided by the Red Cross. They will be operational for two nights, from 7:30 PM to 9 AM. The installation of these temporary modules has been agreed upon and coordinated with the Palma Firefighters and does not affect the operational capacity of the service in any way, the City Council has assured. The Central Fire Station has an alternative exit for emergency vehicles, which also has a traffic light system that grants priority to traffic.

According to information from Cort, in coordination with the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS), so far 45 people have been referred to temporary reception centers or social and labor programs. However, organizations working with homeless people have warned on different occasions about the lack of stable residential resources to respond to chronic vulnerability situations. Of the approximately fifty people evicted this Tuesday, about five will be assisted by the La Sapiència Foundation and Cáritas, both entities linked to the Diocese of Mallorca.

Once the eviction is complete, the Local Police have activated a permanent surveillance device in the enclosure to prevent new occupations. Subsequently, the City Council will board up the facilities and begin the transformation of the old prison site into a new residential complex with more than a hundred subsidized homes. The project proposes about 130 apartments, with a combination of protected, assisted, and affordable rental housing, according to the Palma City Council. In the area, a new roundabout and a new access to Palma have also been planned for years.

“The PP has chosen the cruelest path with vulnerable people”

The spokesperson for MÉS per Palma, Neus Truyol, has criticized the eviction of the old prison and has accused the municipal government of the PP of opting “the cruelest path” by expelling vulnerable people without guaranteeing, according to her, a dignified housing alternative. Truyol stated that “a decent city does not solve poverty by hiding it behind a wall” and reproached the local executive for not acting with the same force against real estate speculation and the increase in rental prices. She also maintained that the eviction “is the symbol of a policy that punishes vulnerability and rewards speculation”.

For her part, Anna Ferrer, a friend of some of the evicted people, has denounced that the social services of the City Council and the Consell de Mallorca are “collapsed”, with waiting lists, and for this reason these people will be forced to sleep outdoors. Ferrer, who was present during the eviction, denounced that “now everyone is going out on the street”, reports EFE.

The Red Cross explained this Wednesday to Ferrer that its services are "saturated" and that the Mallorquín Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS), of the Consell de Mallorca, also does not have more places to give a bed to these people.

On the other hand, Jaume Pujol, from the support group set up to help the prison residents, stated that everything in this process "is very shameful because it means leaving 200 people on the street," those who lived in the old prison a few months ago.

These are people with jobs, he recounted, who with the salaries they earn cannot access to reside in "decent housing" due to the high cost of rent, or even rent a room.

Pujol has denounced that some residents have received "pressures" of deportation if they did not abandon the property, and for this reason the Consistory's action "has been classist and racist."

"You cannot remove people without knowing where they will live"

Mercé, a resident and member of the Cas Capiscol neighborhood association, has explained that they are in favor of this eviction due to the dangers of living in this place, but they also want the expelled people to be able to live in a safe place. "You can't remove people without knowing where they will live," she commented.

Some volunteers have been distributing water, bananas, and muffins among the evicted residents, who have been leaving peacefully from the old building, which will be demolished by the City Council to build social housing.