After a long time demanding some kind of solution to avoid the numerous suicide attempts that this part of the capital has registered in recent years, the residents of the Salamanca neighborhood saw yesterday how they began to place the fences that raise the height of the Zurita bridge , and with which it is intended to dissuade those who approach this point to try to take their own life.
The work, which has a budget of almost 30,000 euros, consists of placing metal fences along the bridge and on both sides, as well as the city’s logo, and a change in the colors of the bridge.
The La Arboleda Neighborhood Association of the Salamanca neighborhood has channeled the petition of residents and businessmen who have seen firsthand how suicide attempts were taking place, and the consequences of some of them. Through the Tagoror of the Centro-Ifara District, a translucent fence was initially requested on the Zurita bridge, similar to the one that was placed at the time on the bridge next to the Hospital Febles Campos.
Finally, the district agreed to seek some kind of solution, which is finally being executed by the Public Services area, led by councilor Carlos Tarife. This request was repeated after each new suicide attempt, the last one was prevented by a neighbor in the area.
“This type of event continues to be repeated over time, in the midst of an economic, social and health crisis. That is why the La Arboleda Neighborhood Association, through the Tagoror meeting of the Central District -Ifara and Salud-Salle, requests the City Council to install a protective fence as was done with the Javier de Loño bridge”, it could be read in the letter that they delivered to the City Council last year.
tragedies
And it is that, after placing the first fences on the Javier Loño bridge, next to the Febles Campos, the attempts were transferred to the Zurita bridge. The merchants in the area narrated last September to DIARIO DE AVISOS the impact it is to see how someone jumps into the void. “Seeing a man throw himself from the Zurita bridge is the most unpleasant thing I have witnessed in my life” they recounted.
They remembered then that at the end of last August, a 19-year-old decided to take his own life from the heights of this bridge. One last tragedy that was added to others such as that of a woman, who repented at the last moment, and she was left hanging from the railing; luckily several people were able to rescue her from her. Another lady also tried to throw herself last summer, but one of the workers from a nearby store and other passers-by managed to stop her. All cases witnessed by the residents of the neighborhood, who now trust that the placement of these billboards will help make it a little more difficult for people who make such a drastic and sad decision.
The residents understand that putting up fences is only a deterrent measure and that the real solution has to come hand in hand with providing more resources to public health to care for people immersed in depressive processes.
