Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
The Catalan council has reimbursed the bus and rail fares of migrants who arrive in Valencia from Barcelona.
Valencia Council social workers who speak to sleeping people in Turia Garden have been informed about the free tickets. La Razon newspaper.
It therefore suggests that homeless people are being ‘palmed off’ by Barcelona authorities, who have not commented.
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Turia is a popular area for arriving travellers to stay overnight, as it offers shelter from the wind and rain thanks to the numerous bridges.
Every night, it is said that around 100 migrants stay in the area.
Marta Torrado is the councillor for Social Services in Barcelona. She did not comment directly on the Barcelona tickets. Instead, she blamed an increase in property rents to rough sleeping.
Torrado told La RazonThey are seasonal workers, who might be fruit pickers, but do not have enough money to rent an apartment due to the high rental cost.
She added, “We help them even by advancing several month’s rent. But landlords will not take them on because they are worried about what will happen during the remainder of the rental period.
There are also municipal shelters that offer a thousand beds a night, with 90% of those being occupied on a daily basis.
Some people say they won’t use the bags because they can’t take all their things.
It could be a kitchen unit or a sofa that they found on the waste tip. They don’t want them to go to waste if you keep them in shelter.
The health of the homeless in Turia has also been a concern. Rats have been spotted, and some suffer from insect bites.
Valencia’s cleaning councillor, Carlos Mundina, told La Razon Since it wasn’t within his brief he couldn’t comment on this, but cleaning staff would alert the relevant department if they detected pests.
He said: “We remove all food and other waste to stop the spread of rats or insects.”
Mundina said that staff should not remove a tent if they see it being used by someone who is homeless.
