The housing crisis in Mallorca has forced more than 800 people to live on the streets, who were cared for by various social organisations linked to the Church throughout last year. The Bishop of Mallorca, Sebastià Taltavull, reported on Wednesday at a press conference, accompanied by representatives from various organisations, on the situation of homeless people on the island.
During 2024, a total of 841 people, 26 more than the previous year, were assisted by Sojorn, the Fundació la Sapiència and Càritas Mallorca. These figures, explained Teresa Riera, a technician with the Caritas housing programme, do not reflect the real growth in homelessness, as the organisations can only assist a certain number of people. ‘We have endless waiting lists and we see the suffering of individuals and families who cannot find a home,’ she stressed.
All the organisations have pointed to the housing crisis as one of the main causes of this situation and have called for structural and community solutions to be put in place to tackle this problem.
High prices, combined with job insecurity, have made ‘the right to decent housing a utopia for many people,’ said Riera.
The lack of a roof over their heads, they explained, forces these people to face daily obstacles that prevent their full integration into society, such as lack of privacy, physical and mental health problems, difficulties in accessing decent employment or carrying out basic administrative procedures such as registering with the local council.
As every year, the organisations have launched a campaign to mark Homeless People’s Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday and which seeks to raise awareness that people who are forced to live on the streets ‘have dreams, memories, stories and dignity’ despite not having access to housing.
Under the slogan “Sense llar, però amb somnis” (Homeless, but with dreams), the campaign will consist of an event in Palma’s Plaza Mayor on Saturday at 11 a.m., in which homeless people will participate and a manifesto in their defence will be read. On Sunday, two special masses will be held to highlight these people, one in the Cathedral and the other in the parish church of Santo Domingo de Inca.