On 14 October, a boat intended to reach Cadiz (Andalusia) sank in the vicinity of Cape Trafalgar. Inside, 28 people traveled, of whom only three were rescued. The bodies of ten people drowned in the sea were located and, after identifying them, it was found that seven of them were relatives of neighbours in the village of Atxondo. "In this flooded kick, the families of our neighbors Bilal, Soufiane and Sadik have lost seven people; five cousins, one wife and one five-year-old son," the Atxondo Host People reported in a statement released after the events.

In this context, the City of Atxondo has reported that on 17 October they contacted the mayor of the town. They explained that they asked them to report in writing and that the following day, on 18 October, they completed the form for holding an emergency plenary session with the aim of managing the situation. As it did not materialise, EH Bildu requested that the Finance Committees be convened. Finally, the City Hall proposed a meeting to both the Host People and EH Bildu.

The Host People have been outraged by the City Hall’s account of the talks held at the meeting. In a note published last Friday, 29 October, they denied that more than EUR 21,000 had been requested from the City Council. “We told them that the repatriation of each corpse cost EUR 3,000 and that the death of seven brothers from Harrera would be a very high cost, a total of EUR 21,000, but from the Atxondo Host People we never asked the city council to advance that money.” They pointed out that he merely asked what attitude the City Hall would take in the face of these costs and that the answer they received was that a donation of 1,000 euros was to be given from the social emergency heading. They refused to receive it, understanding that “in the people there are people who, unfortunately, need that money”.

In addition, they explained that from the first moment he moved to the City Hall that in addition to money had greater needs: “Politicians have more ability to go to institutions than we, the citizens, and that’s what we needed; to give the doors, to make movements and to deal with obstacles.” In this regard, EH Bildu de Atxondo also published a press release on Wednesday denouncing the "immobilism" of the City Hall. “For the City Hall there are citizens of different levels and they do so,” the coalition has censored.

Atxondo’s Host People have not only shown their anger at the City Hall’s reading. He wanted to denounce, in general, the City Hall’s attitude to the situation created in this case. It regretted that the first public statements were made on 27 October in the wake of the Cadiz event, as well as the demonstrations that have taken place there. In the City Council note the following can be read: “It should be remembered that the City of Atxondo has been paying the costs of the housing in which these neighbors live for two years, such as light and maintenance.” In the eyes of the Atxondo Host People, these kinds of statements only encourage “contempt and hatred for migrants”, and in response to those words of the City Hall, they have pointed out that the building of the Atxondo Host Village is from the locality and that the costs of supply and maintenance are paid by the people.

Gratitude to the people

They have thanked the people of Atxondo for their support and solidarity. “While the City Hall was seeking support in the ‘higher instances, such as the delegation of the Government of Spain, the Embassy and the Red Cross’, Atxondo Harrera Herria, thanks to the generosity of many neighbours and neighbours of Atxondo and the Duranguesado, has already repatriated three corpses to their homeland. We intend to do the same with the other bodies of our family members,” they said.