SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 4. (EUROPE PRESS) –
A total of 2,738 people are in a situation of extreme residential exclusion on the island of Tenerife, which is almost a thousand more people than in 2020 (1,783 people), with 42.8% of cases (1,173 people) being a direct consequence of the socioeconomic and health crisis caused by covid-19.
This follows from the study ‘Extreme residential exclusion in Tenerife in times of covid’, the results of which were presented today Monday at a press conference by the president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín; the island councilor for Social Action, Marián Franquet; the general secretary of Cáritas, Ricardo Iglesias, and the coordinator of Cáritas Social Action, Úrsula Peñate.
The report, carried out by Cáritas Diocesana de Tenerife with the financial support of the Cabildo, aims to update the data presented last year on people in extreme residential exclusion and the consequences that the crisis caused by covid-19 has had on extreme residential exclusion. on the island.
Pedro Martín pointed out that the Cabildo is “frankly concerned” about the situation of homeless people, hence the Island Corporation is going to allocate one million more euros to address this situation, and advanced the creation of four more centers on the Island , two in the north and two in the south, for the attention of these people.
Among the main data of the study stands out the fact that of the 2,738 people in a situation of extreme residential exclusion, a total of 1,107 are homeless people who spend the night in public spaces outdoors; 238 make use of hostels or night accommodation centers; 420 live in conventional accommodation, but it is not the usual one due to the loss of their home; 433 live in temporary and unconventional structures (shacks, caves, etc.) and occasional self-constructions that do not meet habitability criteria, and 241 live in improper accommodation, such as occupied buildings.
Likewise, the people who began their situation of extreme residential exclusion as a result of the covid-19 crisis, that is, within the period between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021, represent 42.8 % of the total. On the contrary, 56.2% (1,565 people) were identified as already in this situation prior to the aforementioned crisis, even for periods longer than the time frame of between 5 and 10 years (in 14.5% of cases) and, in the most serious cases, for periods of more than 10 years (5.9% of the total).
Homelessness is more prevalent in the metropolitan area, although it is a reality that affects the entire island and has increased in most municipalities. As for the municipalities with the highest incidence, Santa Cruz de Tenerife repeats the first position with 953 cases, representing 34.8% of the island total; followed by Arona, with 441 people identified; The Lagoon, with 422; Adeje, with 166, and Puerto de la Cruz, with 134.
The study data, disaggregated by sex, show the greater presence of men living in a situation of extreme residential exclusion (2,024, 73.9% of the total). However, there has been an increase in women in a homeless situation, increasing from 21.4% in 2020 to 25.6% in the last year, so that they already represent one in four people in a homeless situation. of homelessness.
The average age of the people identified in the present study is 45.3 years, in the case of men, and 35.1 years in women. The majority age group is between 45-55 years (629 people, 23% of the total).
In addition, the study has identified 150 minors in a situation of extreme residential exclusion. All of them live with their legal guardians, belonging to a complete family unit in a homeless situation. These family models are generally single mothers, in some cases with a history of gender violence, and in others with trajectories in the child protection system, with minimal or no income.
Likewise, the study shows the tendency for younger people to become part of these exclusion groups, homeless and homeless. With a representative ratio of 7.8% between the ages of 18 to 25, where antecedents linked in many cases to institutionalization processes in the protection system are again identified, without family alternative and support when reaching the age of majority, being forced to leave the protection system, in many cases without a housing alternative, when they turn 18 years old.
In turn, the upward trend in cases of people aged 65 to 90 should be noted, where in 2020 they represented 4.6% of the total, with 81 localized cases, compared to 2021, which represents 5.6%. of the total, with 154 cases.
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN.
Regarding the countries of origin, an increase in the total percentage of nationals in a situation of extreme residence exclusion is detected, compared to people with foreign nationality. The national profile reaches 57.5% in 2021, compared to 54.3% the previous year. In turn, the percentage of foreigners has increased by 37.4%, with only 12.4% being in an irregular administrative situation.
Of the twenty most representative nationalities in number of cases, ten correspond to member countries of the European Union; two to non-EU European countries -Russia and the United Kingdom-, another two to countries on the African continent and five to countries on the American continent. These figures dismantle the xenophobic discourses that link aporophobia with migrants, since it is Spanish nationals and registered EU citizens who represent the majority of people in a situation of extreme residential exclusion.
When addressing the temporality of the situation of extreme residential exclusion of the people identified, an increase in people who have been in a situation of extreme residential exclusion for more than a year is observed, representing a proportion of 62.9%. In this group, the people who are in this situation for more than three years constitute 32.5%, which shows the high chronification of the situation of these people and the lack of an adequate response by public institutions.
Structural issues such as unemployment and job insecurity, the high price pressure of the rental market and its scant regulation, as well as the minimal economic income derived from the system of benefits and social pensions are some of the reasons that make it impossible to access and permanence in decent housing to more and more people. Added to this is the low supply of social rentals and official protection housing.
Likewise, 74.2% of the people interviewed stated that the covid-19 situation had limited their access to administrative, social and health services, due to the measures adopted by the public administration in times of covid, closing services and with exclusive telematic access, once again making it difficult for these people to access social and health services due to the digital divide and the impossibility on many occasions of accessing mobile devices, contracting telephone lines and even recharging the mobile.
