Seven of the 48 families that occupy the Tabaiba building, located at number 42 Isla de la Graciosa street (San Isidro, Granadilla), declared before the judge that they were being investigated for alleged usurpation of the home they inhabit. It is a process that will be extended to all the occupants of this property, in which the majority of those affected have lived for more than a decade, according to what they comment. The trials were seen for sentencing, which those affected expect to know next Tuesday.
The Tenants Union of Tenerife (SIT), which is part of the group of groups that camp and support these neighbors, he was “very hopeful and confident” that they reach their goal of staying in the housesto which they accessed illegally, with the endorsement of a judicial pronouncement.
For two weeks, the more than 150 residents of this building – among whom are some 40 minors – have been without water supply service. They replace it with jugs that they fill with water from the tanker truck that transports it to the place to guarantee this supply, after two weeks ago the tanks that the residents placed on the roof were emptied and disconnected. An action developed by the company Desokupa, specialized in evictions, protagonist of controversies in recent years and hired by the property to recover the building, according to what they say.
In the eviction operation promoted by the property, as Daniel Esteve exposes on his social networks as the person in charge of said company, it has not been completed. He announces the return to the Island with a team of about 40 people to complete a task in which, he says, he already has 11 neighbors who have signed their voluntary departure in exchange for money. In the same communication, Esteve confirms the presentation of complaints to neighbors and the Tenants’ Union of Tenerife “for slander, insults and others.”
On the 4th, a group of Desokupa members attempted a owner-initiated eviction. They entered through the roof, placed an armored door and “broke several solar panels, in addition to disconnecting the water tanks,” say those affected. Likewise, the platforms that defend these families recall that they came to live in this building ten years ago “with the authorization of the Granadilla de Abona City Council as they are people in a vulnerable situation.” In addition, “they invested in the building”, as it was in terrible condition. They criticize that the City Council, instead of offering them a social rental, “decides to sell the houses to a foreign vulture fund with them inside.”
They insist that “there is already an open judicial procedure and it must be a judge who decides if these people should continue living here.” More trials for alleged usurpation will be held in the coming days.
