News now on the Romanian campsite, which we reported on last month – well it’s gone, but the circumstances behind the ‘eviction’ have caused quite a bit of controversy, especially as the municipal elections are just around the corner, of course.
On the 9th of November the Town Council approved the commencement of the eviction process, especially as part of the illegal campsite on the east side of town was on municipally owned land.
Almost immediately three NGO’s: Motril Acoge, specialised in helping the homeless; APDHA, specialised in Human Rights and the Gypsy association, Anaquerando, expressed their concern for the plight of the ‘homeless’ Romanians. The said NGO’s also claimed that there had been an ‘ethnication’ (sic) which was causing ‘alarming stigmatization.’ They pointed out that residents of the campsite included Moroccans and even Spaniards; not just Romanians.
They even went so far as to accuse Councillor Antonio Escámez of racist and xenophobic declarations. In a plenary meeting on the 29th of October the said councillor ‘described the Romanian Gypsies as a wandering race that likes to live in shanty towns, surrounded by dogs, making bonfires and foraging through rubbish,’ according to the NGO’s.
Then on the 17th it was announced in the provincial press that the Town Hall had paid for the bus journey of the Romanian Gypsies to return to their country of origin, costing approximately 900 euros from the public purse. The Council says that the Romanians opted voluntarily to return after being evicted. It also claims that the said eviction was not ‘traumatic.’ However, what immediately came to mind was the parallel between what happened in France regarding the expulsion carried out there. By the time of the eviction the Town Council had calculated that there were now nine settlement nucleuses in which were a total of around 100 inhabitants.
Then on the 24th the regional ombudsman, Sr. José Chamizo, requested a report from the Mayor concerning the eviction, which appears to have been a formality.
Summing up, the Town Hall was being pressurised by neighbourhood associations because of their ‘concerns’ for their own safety and the reappearance of slums in the town. The campsites were all on ‘somebody’s land;’ either public or private, and the private owners wanted an immediate eviction.
Above all, it was a very sensitive subject, involving EU citizens. So, the easiest way out was to carry out the eviction and then pay from municipal funds for the problem to ‘go away.’ The Town Hall repeatedly reiterated that the Romanians went home voluntarily, as EU citizens can’t be expelled without a judicial order.