But with the change in the municipal council and the arrival of the popular under the leadership of the mayor Jose Luis Sanz changed the panorama. There have been repeated press visits to the settlement, and the headlines, especially in July, announcing that the settlement would end, are repeated. The latest statement by the delegate of Preferential Care Neighborhoods and Social Rights, Jose Luis Garciais an example of the change in tone.
García was accompanied by cameras to film the demolition of two shacks that housed four adults and a minor. He then stressed that “the government of José Luis Sanz continues to demonstrate its commitment to dismantling the oldest slums in Europe.” But he got into a quagmire by declaring that “in one year we have carried out more demolitions and more social relocations than in the previous eight years,” referring to the socialist era. Something that does not correspond to the facts. García also stated that the aim of the city council is to eliminate all slums in Seville by 2027.
The mayor is also making that promise, he did so last week when he announced a plan for new relocations, committing to “ending El Vacie in this term.” Curiously, José Luis Sanz made the same promise in July 2023; the number of inhabitants has remained the same since then.
Lies and lack of sensitivity
The statements of the deputy responsible for the settlement are piercing the ranks of the opposition. From the PSOE, where the eradication program began with a team of specific social workers, they are discrediting the PP council the “shameful” statements and the lies that are told.
“In this desire for notoriety, he does not hesitate to resort to lies and discredit the social workers responsible for the extermination, he points out. Councillor Nani Aguilar, responsible for social services in the municipal PSOE. After years of working discreetly, the socialists are now claiming the silent work with which they have unraveled the slum's string for years.
In concrete terms, when the PP arrived at the Seville City Council, they were in El Vacie 176 people, divided over 54 families. In the two previous terms, 437 people had been relocated. There were 104 families, of which only 6 lived in transition apartments. In addition, full schooling had been achieved for the remaining minors who remained in the settlement. A transcendental turning point for the social dynamics.
The Socialists recall that in recent years attempts have been made to ensure that social workers themselves would be the ones who, from a discreet perspective, would take charge of the demolition of slums and provide support to slum families who, in general, distrust politicians' media.
