The Donostia City Council has decided to suspend the solidarity dinners that the Kaleko Afari Solidarioak (KAS) collective distributes daily in the San Sebastian neighborhood of Egia due to “a situation of insecurity in that area.” In statements to the media, reported by Europa Press, the San Sebastian mayor of Citizen Security, Martin Ibabe, has communicated that the municipal government of PNV and PSE-EE has decided to “suspend the dinner activity that is taking place in the area of Egia” and that “the exclusive and only reason” for this decision is “the security problem that is occurring in that environment.”
In this sense, he has pointed out that there is “a series of data” from the Municipal Guard and the Ertzaintza, which have been carrying out “monitoring for a long time”, which corroborate “an evolution of criminal activity” in Egia that “absolutely has nothing to do with it”. to do with the distribution of food” by KAS. Ibabe has highlighted that, according to the statistics for 2022 in Egia, there was an increase in criminal activity “of 29% compared to the previous year, in 2023 of 16% and in the first half of the year 600 actions.”
To this he added that there is also “a citizen complaint, which is absolutely logical” in this regard, which, furthermore, “is contrasted with the data that is handled regarding criminal activity.” The councilor has insisted that this is “the reason why we have made this decision and it is that simple and that clear.” In this context, Ibabe has denied that the municipal government relates the distribution of solidarity dinners with an increase in crime, since “there is a group of people who go to dinner out of necessity.”
However, he pointed out that last week a police action was carried out with “a series of seizures of knives, sharp objects, scissors, machetes, drugs and pills” in the area. “I don’t think that has anything to do with the need to have dinner, that has to do with criminal activity, I insist again, and we have intervened there due to a situation of insecurity that is occurring in that area,” he reiterated. Ibabe has insisted that “some of them come to dinner and others come to that call and find themselves in that place.” “Some come to dinner and others don’t,” he added.
Kaleko Afari Solidarioak is a citizen initiative that was born in November 2020, when some residents of Plaza de la Constitución saw a “very small” group of people sleeping on the street and “who had nothing.” “Why don’t we bring them a hot dinner?” they thought, given the situation they witnessed from their homes. They started serving five people. Little by little, the group has been increasing, as well as the number of volunteers. In addition to Egia, the initiative is also replicated in other parts of Donostia, such as the Old Town and Amara, and it has not been prohibited there. “Why do we do it? Ugh, so many words come out of me… For social justice,” Gema, one of the volunteers of Kaleko Afari Solidarioak, told this newspaper in 2021. The objective of the initiative is that “people who cannot afford it because they are “Those who are homeless have at least one hot meal a day.” “Without making any type of discrimination,” he clarified then.
“Increase” in crime
Asked about what deployment there is, at the moment, of Ertzaintza and Municipal Guard in Egia, Councilor Ibabe pointed out that there has been a “permanent operation in shifts throughout the surrounding area for some time”, with “constant patrols and space controls such as Tabakalera, bus station, Duque de Mandas area, the surroundings of the Atotxa court and all that space.” Ibabe has reiterated that there is an “increase” in crime data in that environment that “from the scope and responsibility of security concerns and occupies” the local Executive. “Supervision has always been there, but the activation plan has been in place for approximately three years and is being reinforced,” he detailed, adding that, in fact, there is already “planned action to continue reinforcing it.”
On the other hand, regarding whether KAS will be able to continue distributing solidarity dinners, as until now, in other parts of the city such as Amara or the Old Town, Ibabe has detailed that “the only guideline that has been given is in Egia”, for “the security and the data that I have given about that area.” As indicated, in order to make this distribution, “authorization on public roads” is required and “the security authorizations that have been made in the past are not those that apply at this time.”
Likewise, he specified that, if they detect “a situation of insecurity” in other areas of the city, the City Council will have to decide “at what moment to act and if the security standards that are being given are justifiable, bearable or not.” ”. “With our police presence, if in addition to the police presence and the resources that we are investing in the area, we see that the data continues to increase, logically our obligation will be to act in the face of this reality that we see,” he stated.
Regarding the citizen concentration called last Monday in Egia against insecurity in the area that ended with a confrontation between neighbors and Ertzaintza agents and after which this suspension of the solidarity dinners took place, Ibabe has recognized that it “had no authorization” and, given new calls already announced on social networks, he has warned that “they have to meet the same requirements, have authorization.” The councilor recalled that there have already been other mobilizations “of these characteristics” in the city before.
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