The less visible face of the city, that of the homeless, is on the increase. Teresa Riera, a technician at the housing and homelessness service of Cáritas, has been helping this group for more than 20 years and confirms the increase in the number of people on the streets. The main reason does not come from the economic crises or the recent pandemic, “in Mallorca the big problem of access to housing and speculation has been decisive”.
New profiles
Women: “The number of women has increased a lot. The centres are very masculinised and the dangers are infinitely greater. The way we intervene will have to change. It is very common for them to seek a partner as a form of protection; we hear women saying: ‘I prefer to be abused by one rather than all of them’ “.
Older people: “The problem is the lack of access to residential care. Now there are many cases of people over 80 years old”.
People with mental illness: “When the psychiatric wards were closed, the model of mental health care was changed, which is good, but it has excluded many people and now they are the new street profiles”.
“We hear women who say: “I’d rather be abused by one person than by everyone”.
The fragility of the system means that people with a very normalised life suddenly find themselves homeless. “If you become unemployed and loose your house, you are in a street situation or you have to go to a resource – most of them collapsed – for homeless people”, warns Riera, who calls for “not stigmatising, giving visibility and not blaming. We are in a very throwaway society and we have to see how we can include this vulnerable group”, she concludes.
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