Nayem Abdalla kneads, bakes and delivers bread to those who do not want others like him to come to the neighborhood. The baker wakes up at four in the morning, ties his apron, puts on his hat, molds the sourdough, the flour dyes his toasted skin white and his expert hands prepare loaves and ciabattas. In the store they talk about everything; of course, the rejection of this neighborhood of Valladolid to a refugee center. Abdalla, 33 years old, is outraged: he is a refugee from Western Sahara, where he left when he was 10 years old and weighing 17 kilos towards reception in Spain. The inaction of the Valladolid City Council (PP and Vox) has paralyzed a project initiated by the previous one (PSOE and Valladolid Take the Word) together with the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Some associations collected signatures against a plan that would attract 17 million euros of European funds. All for “safety”.
The soap opera has lasted for months. The previous municipal corporation agreed to transfer an unused plot to Migrations to build a reception center for 200 people. The infrastructure carried several jobs for its management, as well as a sports center with a swimming pool, a civic center and some parking lots, as well as a park with a green area. The 17 million euros needed would come from European funds. The project raised doubts in Las Delicias, particularly in these recently built blocks at the top of the neighborhood. The assemblies generated criticism, some associations collected signatures against the works, while others demanded humanity and asylum for the needy. Then the classic proclamations arose from those who say they are not racist, but… resort to topics that are not substantiated or refuted by the data. “If you like it so much, put it on the door of your house”, “Safety is important, there are many children and it is a quiet area”, “People want security”, “It has nothing to do with racism or xenophobia, but safely”, “You have to help, but who tells you who they bring”, “The Ukrainians have not caused a problem, but who tells you that 200 sub-Saharans or 300 Moroccans are not coming”, exclaims Pedro Campos, 55 years old, neighbor of those homes. “Delicias has a lot of migrants, with a lot of people milling about, and we lack services and businesses,” argues the man, upset that the nearby hospital, the main one in Castilla y León, and a McDonald’s have attracted bustle to the area.
The PP-Vox coalition changed plans. The extreme right has clearly expressed its rejection of the center while the PP has taken a backseat. The subdelegate of the Government in Valladolid, Alicia Villar, has criticized that “the City Council was playing not to make a decision” until the deadlines of the tenders and the availability of community financing required Migrations to act. The mayor, Jesús Julio Carnero (PP), insisted on an eternal “period of reflection.” PP and Vox opposed a socialist motion to lend the plot in November. Ministry spokespersons explain that “the new Corporation was required to respond to the continuity of construction, several visits were made and no response was obtained.” Thus, in order not to increase the compensation to the bidders, “the processing has been interrupted.” “Still, as of today, the City Council has not adopted any decision,” they say.
The noise has settled in the streets of Dulzaina, Castañuelas or Carraca, close to the land involved, grassed with weeds. These streets, according to the rental maps, have an economic capacity higher than the average for Valladolid and Las Delicias, the latter with a high volume of migrants. A young woman from those homes requests anonymity to express that in her building, signs were put up in the elevator to mobilize the residents and that she has doubts. “People say that we are abandoned by God and that they are putting a refugee center on top of us. It makes me sad because they are people in need, but we also don’t know who could come, I am divided,” she says. According to another passerby, “the neighborhood would be devalued, they would take it to the rich people who are surrounded here.” For a merchant, timid in case she loses market, “jobs have not been valued, these are people who have nowhere to go.” A different story is Zahara Pérez, 36, who runs a nearby bakery. There she refutes, when there is trust, those who charge against the refugees. The best example, Nayem, kneading dough in the back room. “He has come to work and not to take advantage of the system, I know many more Spaniards who do it,” highlights the partner. “He has never received aid and there are clients who believe that we have set up the business because of the aid, and refugees can have all kinds of backgrounds and training,” Pérez denies, desperate for the social rejection of the Immigration headquarters.
When the conversation lights up and there is trust, the figure of the baker, with 12 years of experience, comes to light. The bread from his area passes through his hands and the arguments against rejection pass through his mouth: “People have never left their homes nor have they ever gone hungry.” He arrived skeletal in Spain with water as his only food in a refugee camp. “It is pure ignorance, but there are people with whom you cannot debate because they cross you out, without hearing, seeing and remaining silent,” laments the busy man while he jokes with buyers, attends to an oven commercial and flattens and shapes the dough.
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—There’s Vox now, right? he asks.
-Yeah.
—It is, it is.
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