What was the reason for his resignation?

I've made the decision because I believe in a model, from a technical point of view, but also on a personal level, because I want a model for my neighborhood and for society. I told them from the beginning that I couldn't work with the Coworkids project because I didn't believe it. It is clear that there are things that need to be improved, both in the administration and in the area of neighborhood movements. But here's the treasure: the movement adds its power to the administration, between them, each in its own way, to better protect children and adolescents. The Administration has many technical and professional means, but it does not have what the neighborhoods have, that way of living, that closeness to protect people.

Do you think the decision of the municipal government has been political?

I think no, they have made it clear to me. What is more, they have not taken account of the opinions of the technicians. It is a matter of power: preventive services for children have a great influence on the lives of children and families. They want to control values and tools, and they can't control service delivery through partnerships.

From now on, it will be the City Hall itself that provides the service. The municipality itself is not bad...

I am an official, and I certainly believe in the public. But the administration has limits, and for that, precisely here, we have what they are looking for in many countries in Europe. But it is not to some people's liking. In the Ensanche, or in Iturrama, they should promote this type of projects, invest in it, strengthen associations and the participation of children from an early age, thus achieving a preventive service. But don't take away what's out there.

The Community model has been in place for more than twenty years. How did it start?

At that time, the neighborhoods were active with children, young people and families. At the same time, the City Hall was obliged to comply with an order. Therefore, they accepted that this work should be carried out by the collective neighborhoods and formalized a contract with the associations. We have always fought and it has not been easy. As far as neighborhoods are concerned, the movement is becoming more and more powerful. These are fixed projects that have a lot of technicians and volunteers.

The work of these associations is not limited to leisure.

Activities are a tool for working deeper things. In the group of dances, you learn, in principle, dances, but you also learn how to adapt them to a group, how to protect them between members, how to connect children from very different situations, etc. All this is coordinated with social services, educational centers and health centers.

What is now in danger?

So far, the system has been complementary: some things are done by the administration and others by the ECB. Now everything will be penalised by the administration and will be transformed, as it is. The structure will therefore not be stable. On the one hand, there is a risk of leaving a whole model – and some technicians – on the street, and on the other hand, at the neighborhood level, we are losing a resource to protect our children, especially the most vulnerable.

Why is the proximity of the neighborhood important?

In municipal services we work the technicians, but we are not neighbors or friends of the children, so we have limitations to work. This distance is very suitable for some things. But you have to work on everyday things from the community, for example, how to integrate a child or how to protect it from one another. A technician cannot come and say that this must be done in this way or otherwise. We want our children to be critical, constructive and participatory, and to do so they have to decide from a young age what to do.

Can't the Coworkids program do that?

Here we have always taken into account the opinions of children and adolescents. Why? Because we're a lot of people. With Coworkids there will be fourteen technicians for the whole of Pamplona, while now it is 32. It's one thing to consume an activity, go to the dance group and learn to dance. That's a Civivox, or an academy. But we want boys and girls from the very beginning to decide what to do and how to do it and to learn human values and capabilities through activities. That's hard. How many volunteers are we here? A hundred? How many technicians? It costs us a lot, and there are many of us who believe in the project, the neighbors, who feel and love the children close by. Well, think about it ...

On December 31, existing contracts with neighbourhood associations will be suspended. What is going to happen to those associations?

It's not just partnerships. What about neighborhoods? This is a very important resource for neighborhoods; they're neighborhood schools, a way of living. We're thinking about how to organize between neighborhoods so we can keep some things going: local, technical... We will surely make progress. Our neighborhood, the Casco Viejo, wants a lot to its children and will be very skilled to reorganize all of this. But we'll lose a lot.