Torrox Local Police has acted this summer in nearly twenty occupied properties and precarious settlements. The camp under the bridge of the River Güi, in El Morche, has been evicted again due to flood risk.
The Torrox Local Police has carried out around twenty interventions this summer in occupied properties and precarious settlements throughout the municipality. The report, released by the Town Hall, indicates that in several operations, the agents were supported by the Guardia Civil and that the evictions were carried out due to the risks posed to their occupants and the environment.
The Town Hall justifies the interventions due to the risk of fires and floods, especially in settlements near waterways or where mattresses, belongings, and waste were accumulating. The municipal government of the PP, which holds an absolute majority, argues that some locations lacked minimum safety, habitability, and health conditions.
One of the most significant actions has been the second eviction of the settlement under the bridge of the River Güi, at the western end of El Morche, very close to the border with Vélez-Málaga. The first eviction took place in mid-July, and at that time, around ten people were staying there, who left the place without incidents or arrests. After the eviction, mattresses, blankets, waste, and makeshift structures were removed.
The Town Hall justifies the new intervention due to the conditions of the site and its location within the riverbed, which poses a danger in the event of a potential rise in the river. After the eviction, the contractor FCC Caviclum has again carried out cleaning and removal of belongings.
The interventions have not been limited to the River Güi. The Local Police has acted in Punta del Faro, Calle Carlos Cano, Calle Baja, the area of the sports courts in Ferrara, and the Almería road, near the Urban Beach hotel, among other locations. The Town Hall has not specified how many of the nearly twenty actions correspond to homes and how many to outdoor settlements, nor the total number of people affected.
The mayor of Torrox, Óscar Medina (PP), has defended the actions as a way to combine safety with support for vulnerable people. "We continue to act to protect both those in vulnerable situations and private property, ensuring safety and coexistence in our public spaces," he stated in the municipal statement.
"We cannot normalise someone sleeping in a riverbed or remaining irregularly in a property, whether public or private, surrounded by materials that could cause a fire."
Medina has insisted on the need for a joint response from the administrations and has reminded that the Town Hall has already requested the central government for solutions to address these situations. He has also thanked the coordination of the Guardia Civil and acknowledged the work of the chief local police inspector, José Manuel Ruiz, the chief service officer, Diego Blancat, and the deputy officer Pablo Escobar. The municipal social services and Civil Protection volunteers have also participated in the operations.
The mayor has argued that actions must be accompanied by alternatives for those in vulnerable situations. "The solution to these situations cannot involve looking the other way or allowing settlements to consolidate in dangerous places, but rather offering dignified, safe, and coordinated responses," he stated.
The municipal report concludes a summer in which operations regarding occupations and settlements have continued in various areas of the municipality. The camp at the River Güi has already required two evictions in just a few weeks.
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