When the Government of Spain announced the lockdown almost three weeks ago, many Donostiarras citizens did not see a proposal from the administration to deal with the difficulties that this would cause for the most vulnerable people. That is why they decided to organize themselves in order to respond collectively to the needs of the neighbors, according to a press release. Surveillance networks have been set up in the following neighbourhoods: Egia, Intxaurrondo, Amara Berri, Old Party, Altza, Amara-Erdialdea, Añorga and Gros.

On the networks all over Donostia-San Sebastian, they have reported that there are more than 680 volunteers willing to collaborate, and they have highlighted that the majority are women. "We don't think it's a coincidence, because we're talking about feminized volunteering jobs with no visibility in our culture, we're talking about care jobs, which have a woman's face in our environment," he added.

They say that so far the greatest difficulty has been to reach the people who need it, as most of these people are adults and do not have the opportunity to know their initiative. They tried to help them widen the phone as much as possible, and they say that calls have gradually started to arrive. "In recent days the number of calls has increased considerably, because the city council has begun to redirect people directly to our community surveillance networks," they explained.

Collaboration with the City Hall

A City Council technician contacted them in the days after the creation of the network to learn about the situation of the volunteer networks and to study possible avenues of collaboration. "While we were at it, the Basque Government also announced its own network of volunteers: Among others, this new initiative was called the Organized Solidarity Network and was advertised as a single safe way of volunteering, underscoring the work of the citizen surveillance network. We're not going to deny it, we found it painful to question the work of hundreds of people," they say. However, they transferred to the City Hall their readiness for coordination between the volunteers and they remained waiting for the City Hall of Donostia-San Sebastián to propose to them.

"The days have passed and we are still in contact with the City Hall, but we have not received any specific support or resources. But the calls are, they've come. Municipal services are referring citizens who need help to carry out their work to the Community surveillance networks. We think it is great that the city’s volunteer networks are used to carry out surveillance among its neighbours, we do not complain at all about these calls from the City Hall. What we would like is public recognition of the work of all these volunteers and volunteers, and not hinder them from carrying out their work satisfactorily". They recalled that the Municipal Police prohibited members of the surveillance network of the Old Party from communicating the public address initiative on the pretext of maintaining "public order".

They denounce that members of the Municipal Government state in the media that "all the necessary means have been put in place to reach all people who need help". In their opinion, this is not the case, and they have taken as an example that members of the Reception Network who work directly with homeless people report that there is not enough space for all homeless people.

Although they criticize the attitude of the Municipal Government, they wanted to make it clear that they do not want to question the work of the workers of the City Hall. "On the contrary, we sincerely believe that extraordinary efforts are being made to help citizens in the best possible way in this difficult situation," he added. In his words, the problem is another: lack of political will and resources.

"In this state of alarm we are clearly seeing that the policies and budgets of the municipal government do not put the lives of all Donostiarras at the centre, it has become apparent that investing in surveillance resources is not a priority. The citizens assume the responsibility of caring for our neighbors and neighbors, and so we believe that we are filling the gaps left by the public institutions", they denounced.

Finally, they stressed that they have publicly received "disqualifications" and that they are in fact collaborating "what we are asking is that the existence of this collaboration be recognised and supported. We will continue to be delighted in this work, we will be happy to receive all the calls from the City Hall that are addressed to us, but that nobody will cover the contribution of this community volunteering. It has not been the city council that has put all the necessary resources in place, it has been the citizens that we have organized and set in motion to help the neighbours and neighbours".

They say they will continue to work in the coming weeks. "We will make the purchases of those who cannot leave the house in the neighborhood trade and we will bring them full of affection to the door of those who need it, we will take the pharmacy drugs and we will approach those who have the most to take care of, we will keep those who are alone at home on the other side of the phone... After all, we will continue to care for the neighborhoods and villages, collectively responding to the needs of our neighbours and neighbours."