News
Urgent evacuation in Collado Villalba after fires and risk to vulnerable families
Almost one hundred people have been evacuated from a Sareb building in Collado Villalba due to serious safety and health issues. The Ayuntamiento and Sareb have rehoused some of the affected families.
The everyday rhythm of Collado Villalba has been disrupted by the eviction of around one hundred people from a Sareb building, after months of tension and two recent fires that laid bare the fragility of the situation. The decision, taken by the Town Council following several technical reports, responds to the urgent need to guarantee the safety and health of those who lived there, in conditions that could no longer be sustained.
From early in the morning, Real Street 13-15 filled with local residents and activists from the Asamblea de Vivienda Villalba, who tried to stop the eviction. The police presence was considerable: officers from the Policía Local, Nacional y Guardia Civil guarded the block, a building that has been tied up in legal proceedings for years and contains 71 homes.
The trigger was last October's fire, which led municipal technicians to inspect the property. The reports concluded that the building lacked the minimum conditions to be inhabited: structural deficiencies, serious safety problems and sanitary conditions far below what is required. The risk to the occupants' physical integrity was real and evident.
Sareb, the building's owner, was given a deadline to seek housing alternatives, especially for the most vulnerable families. Of the fifteen families identified in that situation, nine have been rehoused in nearby homes under social-rent contracts. The remaining residents included people in an irregular situation and conflict-prone profiles, according to sources from the entity.
On the morning of the eviction, another fire in an occupied hostel on Pardo Santallana Street again put the spotlight on the precariousness of these spaces. Three people were injured and firefighters had to rescue four occupants, two of them via the façade. The incident, which mobilised six fire crews and several ambulances, ended with three hospital transfers for smoke inhalation.
The situation in Collado Villalba reflects a reality that is repeated on the outskirts of Madrid: empty buildings, tied up in legal proceedings and in extreme conditions, which end up becoming precarious shelter for those who find no other option. The tension between the need for housing and urban safety continues to set the pace in these neighbourhoods.
Collado Villalba, halfway between the mountains and the capital, has seen Sareb become a key player in the management of empty homes and in the response to the housing emergency. The presence of occupied buildings and social pressure for decent housing solutions have made this municipality a barometer of the urban challenges faced by Madrid on its outskirts. The city is already beginning to move in that direction, seeking a balance between safety, coexistence and the right to housing.