A few days ago, it hosted tourists, gathered business meetings and celebrated weddings, communions and baptisms. Today, the La Cigüeña Complex, in Arganda del Rey , has become the refuge of 65 homeless people living in a makeshift community safe from the coronavirus .
The crisis that the Covid 19 has unleashed as it passes through our country, and which left this space in disuse with the state of alarm, led its owners to make their extensive facilities available to the most disadvantaged , which have a restaurant, living room conference, tent for large events or pool.
As soon as the authorities began to give signs of what was coming, the owners of La Cigüeña contacted the Social Services of the town council and also with the City Council to put their bit in what if necessary.
"Before having it closed, we decided to make our assets available to the public service. We have to collaborate because the situation is very sad, " Miguel Ángel Carnero, one of the owners of the company, told this newspaper.
Thus, about two weeks ago, the complex opened its doors to its new tenants, who are staying in wooden bungalows overlooking a lake and with all kinds of amenities: air conditioning, heating, free Wi-Fi and a bathroom with a hydromassage shower. . From there they only leave to go to the dining room, which works in shifts to respect the safety distances recommended by the authorities to avoid the spread of the virus.
The people who have landed in this place have no resources, they are "totally excluded" , Carnero points out, who assures that they are, essentially, families with small children from Venezuela and Moldova who have come to our country equipped with the only thing they have, "a suitcase".
"As princes"
"We are extremely grateful. We have a roof, a service and a first class food . They are attending to us like princes," says Emil, one of the tenants of these bungalows.
He arrived in Madrid with his wife and two children, ages four and one, just over a month ago. They flew from Panama, where they lived for a time after fleeing Venezuela, seeking, he says, "a better future . " "The money we had ran out," says Emil, who after seeing himself on the street and looking for accommodation in a hostel in Vallecas, ended up with his family in La Cigüeña.
Juan Pablo, another of the residents of the complex, tells a similar story. He landed in Barajas with his family a couple of weeks ago with nowhere to go , although, like Emil, hoping to achieve a better life than in Venezuela.
At the same airport, he looked for information and found the possibility of settling in the Las Caracolas Refuge. And from there they referred him days later to this complex. "I want to see the owner to thank him. Being here is a blessing, how they have treated us . Being in Spain is a dream come true, despite the coronavirus pump," Juan Pablo said excitedly to this newspaper.
450 meals for shelters
In addition to the "disinterested" gesture of handing over their facilities to the most disadvantaged, the owners of this society are also providing food , through another catering company they manage - the Mirador de Cuatro Vientos - to 450 people who normally live in the street and which are now in the Pinar de San José reception centers, in Cuatro Vientos, and El Vivero, in Villa de Vallecas. "We have been doing it since Sunday the 15th. We brought the food to these places and then it was served by volunteers," says Carnero.
Until now, society has come forward with the resources it had but "the reserves are running out." " We are trying to get our suppliers to lend us a hand, but if it is not possible, we will buy what is necessary," says the businessman.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more- Madrid
- Covid 19
- Arganda del Rey
Covid 19Telemadrid gets older people in shape with a new sports program
PrisonsThe first prisoner with coronavirus dies in a hospital and 38 officials test positive
The Madrid City Council enables 150 places for the 'homeless' at Ifema due to the coronavirus