In Santa Cruz it is forbidden to beg, take water from the fountains to clean yourself or sleep on a bench or in a doorway. They are regulations that are considered to criminalize poverty, because it is the people with fewer resources who are affected in the majority by these ordinances.
Yesterday, the plenary of the City Hall of Santa Cruzat the proposal of the PSOE, unanimously approved carrying out a study of the different municipal ordinances that may have an impact on people in poverty “and eliminate any type of sanction for infraction that involves the criminalization of people in exclusion or social vulnerability.
According to this agreement, one of the regulations that will have to be revised is that of the Police and Good Governance Ordinance, in which, for example, in articles 105 and 106, things such as “washing oneself” or “washing oneself” are prohibited. collect water”.
In the statement of reasons for the motion, other prohibitions are listed that are included in the municipal regulations that directly affect people in a situation of poverty and that prohibit things such as camping, actions against health, consumption of food and drink in the street; but also sleeping, dirtying and/or damaging public furniture, exercising the beggingor search, manipulate, collect and throw garbage, and sit, lie down, lie down on public furniture or street vendors.
“Our city council must be an example of respect for fundamental rights of its citizens and, to this end, it must avoid any conduct that could lead to the persecution or criminalization of poverty. We must ensure that the public spaces of our city are a place for all people, even those who are trying to be made invisible or expelled due to their reality of poverty, exclusion or inequality, ”says the motion.
Education
The second motion that was approved unanimously yesterday was the one presented by CC to solve the problem faced by some 50 families who have been denied the scholarship that the Ministry of Health allocates to students with specific needs for educational support in the Isla and that the parents attribute to an administrative error of the Ministry of Education of the Canary Islands.
The motion went ahead with the support of all political groups, including the PSOE, whose president, former mayor Patricia Hernández, defended that she, and her party, will ask for as many explanations as necessary from her partner, the Minister of Education, so that clarify where the failure has resided, if it is the fault of the department headed by Manuela Armas.
The motion, which was attended by two of the affected mothers, agreed to urge the Ministry of Education to give an explanation of what happened, as well as a quick and effective solution. It was also agreed to urge the review without further delay of all denied scholarship files, as well as that they be charged for an urgent procedure.
