A Desperate Call Due to 'Fear' of Living at Home: The Most Tense Moment Experienced in the San Antón Neighbourhood

Last week, a resident from the ground floor of block 8 in the San Antón neighbourhood called the Neighbourhood Association in distress over a crack in the foundations. The association's president, María Ángeles López, was responsible for informing the Elche City Council.

However, the crack continued to grow. On Wednesday night, the same resident called the association again, 'desperate'. The reason? The crack was 'much larger', accompanied by subsidence in the patio area.

This is how the president of the San Antón Neighbourhood Association describes it, who was on the scene during the preventive evacuation of two buildings due to the risk of collapse. 'A week ago, a resident from the ground floor alerted us to a large crack in the foundations and subsidence in the patio area,' López recalls.

The neighbourhood representative explains that 'it was last night when the woman, in a panic attack, called us again, desperate'. López recounts that at that moment, the resident asked for 'urgent action, as the crack was very large', and even 'feared continuing to live there'.

After alerting the City Council again, the council, represented by the town's mayor, Pablo Ruz, councillors, and technicians, assessed the situation and decided to carry out a preventive evacuation of numbers 3 and 5 on Palombar Street.

A total of 61 residents had to leave their homes with only what they were wearing and seek shelter with other neighbours or in hotels provided by the City Council for the night. For now, the council is urgently inspecting 11 blocks, while residents remain uncertain about when they can return.

The president of the neighbourhood association reports that a total of 20 homes from staircases 3 and 5 were evacuated, and it was this morning when technicians 'urgently reviewed other buildings'. On Thursday morning, neighbourhood residents gathered outside their cordoned-off homes, watching the activity of technicians and local police. Some were even seen entering the building to retrieve personal items, such as televisions.

The neighbourhood association has long been calling for the need to undertake rehabilitation reforms in this battered neighbourhood. 'We need the City Council to sign the agreement with the ministry and the Generalitat for the renewal of the flats here in the neighbourhood.'

From the council, the mayor has once again urged the Government Subdelegation to expedite these procedures 'swiftly' to resolve the neighbourhood's issue, arguing that residents 'cannot wait any longer'.