La Alegría Flood Victims Still Lack Home Deeds 16 Years On
Residents of Santa Cruz de Tenerife's La Alegría neighborhood, whose homes were destroyed in a 2002 flood, still lack deeds for their replacement houses 16 years after moving in, amidst accusations of city council bureaucracy and misuse of property.
According to Drago Canarias, residents of the La Alegría neighborhood, whose homes were destroyed in the 2002 flood, still don't have the deeds for their replacement houses, even 16 years after moving in.
After meeting with the affected residents, Drago Canarias explained that in 2002, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council knocked down their homes and promised them new ones. However, due to "lies and bureaucracy," as the group puts it, residents still lack deeds for these homes and can't even use their garages, which the city council uses for storage.
Residents first complained about the delay in 2010, eight years after the flood, when they finally received their new homes. These were apartments, even though their original houses had been single-story homes. Aitor Montelongo, spokesperson for Drago Santa Cruz, also noted "significant construction defects," including leaky ceilings and broken pipes.
Montelongo emphasized that these homes were built with European funds specifically for the flood victims. He claims the City Council is "stringing along the residents" so it can keep using the garages, which don't belong to them.
When the homes were delivered in 2010, the City Council told residents that because they were social housing, deeds couldn't be issued for ten years. They also said residents needed to sort out all the paperwork for their original homes.
However, Montelongo points out that in 2020, the City Council again insisted that all residents must have their original house documents in order. This, he argues, is unfair to those who have already done so. As a result, some residents still don't have the deeds to their homes, 24 years after the flood and 16 years after receiving the properties.