“See a gentleman jump from the Zurita bridge It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Joseph Guillena resident of the Santacrucero neighborhood of Uruguay who runs a tobacconist’s near the site of the tragic events, regrets that those responsible for the City Council of the capital have ignored the repeated requests by citizens to fence the aforementioned site, as was carried out years ago in the Javier de Loño.
“We need the entire bridge to be fenced off with methacrylate screens to prevent people from committing suicide”, the Tenerife native, who also belongs to the La Arboleda Neighborhood Association. The problem, according to Guillén, is that the area of the Zurita bridge it is not as busy as other platforms that cross the Santos ravine.
At the end of last August, a 19-year-old boy decided to take his life from above, once again shrinking the hearts of the capital of Tenerife. One last tragedy that adds to the memories of the interviewee, who lists the most significant, including those frustrated by passers-by themselves: “A woman, who repented at the last moment, was left hanging from the railing; Fortunately, several people were able to rescue her.” “Another lady tried to throw it out this summer, but one of the workers from a nearby shop and other passers-by managed to stop her,” he adds.
The tobacconist is confident that by installing a translucent fence this type of misfortune will be avoided, since “sometimes it can add up to a dozen suicides in just a few months.” The Grove It has already delivered hundreds of signatures from the residents of the Salamanca district to the Consistory to carry out the work “which will not cost that much either”, but “the only thing we know, at the moment, is that they intend to illuminate the area”.
Guillén predicts a possible increase in misfortune caused by the economic problems that the Canarian population could suffer in the coming months due to the general increase in life (invoices, supermarket basket…). For this reason, the neighbor chicharrero does not cease in his efforts: “If we save a life, it is worth it.”
The City Council, through the Tagoror of the Ifara Central District, already refused to fence the area in summer, opting as an alternative to improve the lighting and aesthetics of the bridge. Jobs that for the neighbors are not enough to dissuade those people who try to rush from this point.
Be that as it may, each suicide entails the opening of the same melon: that of mental health. That is why many wonder what prevails in these situations: the placement of anti-suicide fences on the Zurita bridge or fast and quality assistance in public health?
