El Gallinero, an example of shack near a rich city, Madrid

SUMMARY:

A case of extremely poor neighborhood a few kilometers from downtown Madrid, where the houses have no water and due to this, family members can not drink, take a shower or cook.

Children live daily between rats and snakes, among debris and dirt. This is the shanty neighborhood called El Gallinero, with a population of 435, the vast majority with romanian nationality. More than half of the members of the district are minors. Many of them live in appalling and inhumane conditions.

According to statistics, 98% of the district kids won’t reach the 60 years old (when the average in Spain is 7.8%). The percentage of illiterates in the neighborhood is 78%, compared to 11% of the national level.

COMMENT:

This story exemplifies the concept of "Fourth World". With the example of "El Gallinero" know the case of a neighborhood with the characteristics of conglomerations of shacks. It is an area without any planning, located a few meters from Madrid, the Spanish capital with a high level of economic and social development. Living conditions of the people there are undignified. Furthermore, as is common, the people who live there are from another country, so it can also be considered that there was a spatial segregation. El Gallinero is a neighborhood with a human poverty index characteristic of an underdeveloped country like Ethiopia. What is unbelievable is that is next to Madrid. The city hall should pay attention to the needs of ALL its citizens, no matter their situation. Honestly, I think that with all the money of the corruption we not only could help people who live in shacks, we could improve aspects as education, health, etc.