For more than three months, the residents of the Los Lavaderos area, in the center of Santa Cruz, are having trouble falling asleep and resting. The reasons are various, but the one that bothers them the most is that, according to what they denounce, in the houses and shacks that are on the sides of the ravine, among the people who occupy these slums, there is someone who has chickens and roosters who sing early, from a quarter to five in the morning, most of the time. “They sing when not even the sun has risen yet, when it is still night.” This situation has led them, according to DIARIO DE AVISOS, to have to “take sleeping pills” and “use ear plugs.” Otherwise, they say, “it is impossible to fall asleep.”
Those affected have communicated this situation to the City Council of the capital, which last Friday promised to send a company that is responsible for evicting animals of this type from the buildings and that also usually treats the deterioration caused by pigeons on the facades of certain buildings. However, to this day, almost a week later, the roosters, which in theory are two, according to the images taken by the neighbors themselves with their mobiles, continue to sing and disturb their rest.
“I have been awake since before five in the morning, when in reality I have to do it at six thirty to go to work. On weekends, too, and it turns out that I don’t have to get up early on those days. There is no right and it has been three months. This wears out. We have no idea who these animals are, because no matter how hard we look, we cannot locate where they are or who they belong to, but that there are chickens and roosters is a reality ”, says one of the owners of one of the nearby flats, who does not get rest.
“We are desperate. You cannot have a farm in the middle of the city, because it is against the regulations, it is not legal. And we do not know in what health and hygiene conditions these animals are found ”, they comment.
In addition, they point out that these birds are in an area that is full of garbage. “People throw all kinds of objects into the ravine. If you look you can see that there is even furniture. The image that this area gives is truly devastating and we imagine that from the hospital and the hotel that are nearby it can be seen perfectly. It is a loss of prestige for the city and for those who look out and see this picture ”.
The City Council confirms to DIARIO DE AVISOS that those responsible for these animals are several people who occupy the homes, that two inspectors and the company mentioned by the neighbors have come on several occasions, but that catching the roosters “is not an easy mission ”. They allege that they are hiding and that it is difficult to pursue them due to the orography of the land. Of course, they promise to continue coming every week until they can be captured.
The neighbors insist that it is not only a matter of finding the two animals that sing and wake them up, but also remove the chickens, “which are farm animals, which are also annoying and cannot be there.”
OTHER ADDED PROBLEMS
To this problem is added another, such as the presence of several groups of young people who skate with skateboards, in addition to drinking and eating in the area, every day, until late at night, in the square outside. of the Official College of Architects of Tenerife. A square that they confirm is in the public domain, which the College itself yielded to the Consistory a long time ago. “Bottles, plastics, papers and other garbage remain for days, and even weeks, in that area without anyone picking it up,” says one of those affected, who assures that for 15 days there has been a toilet seat in the square and that no one, not even the municipal cleaning services, remove it. “Many times they take a long time to arrive, and when they do, it is too late, because the young people have left,” he says.
Finally, they tell DIARIO DE AVISOS that there is a neighbor, who, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, takes his dog to this square for a walk, between five and six times a day. Even at six in the morning. “He lets go, yells at him and throws the ball at him. He wakes us up, obviously, and when you look out and politely ask him to please lower his voice, he tells you that it is time to get up, ”those affected commented indignantly.
