CARTAGENA / The fear of altercations leads to reinforce the surveillance of squatters in Isla Plana

LA VERDAD

Local Police and Civil Guard increase control in the Mojón Hills urbanization, and neighbors make night rounds for «death threats»
There is a climate of «social alarm». This is how some residents of Mojón Hills already define, who avoid giving their names to avoid possible reprisals, the situation they suffer in this urbanization of Isla Plana, on the west coast of Cartagena, near Mazarrón. The tension between the owners of houses and the families that, for four months, occupy four duplexes owned by Bankia has soared to the point that the City Council and the Government Delegation have reinforced the surveillance of the area.

The fear of altercations, following the reports of robberies and threats made by residents of the area against Roma families who usurp the homes, has led the mayor, Ana Belén Castejón, to order the increase of municipal patrols. The same has done the delegate of the Government in the Region of Murcia, Diego Conesa, who like the first mayor is in constant contact with neighbors to reassure them and have timely information of everything that happens there.

From several municipalities
Meanwhile, the Civil Guard keeps open an investigation into the theft of household goods in the area, of which the complainants make the squatters responsible. According to local sources, these are Roma people who come from the municipalities of Las Torres de Cotillas, Alguazas and Mazarrón, and among those who are minors. Also, the Government Delegation tries to find a solution to the usurpation of housing, through the financial institution. The sources consulted recalled that the forced eviction of the houses must be ordered by a judge, following a complaint, although they assured that the agents control the area to prevent violent acts or that they disturb the coexistence.

The agents investigate the reports of robberies and pass along the duplexes to remain calm

The neighbors have come to show the agents their fear that the squatters will set fire to the houses, and that their concern forces them to make rounds of surveillance both day and night. In the early hours of Friday to Saturday, groups of residents took turns to be awake in the street of the conflict, Isla de Bahia, and the surrounding area. The same thing they had planned to do last night, despite the passage of police cars.

In recent days, neighbors have said that the squatters have punctured the wheels of cars and have removed televisions and the keys of the community pool, closed because «defecated in the water.»