Third world existence

I've said before that Spain is a country of great contrasts.

Spain has some of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The countryside is spectacular. However, you don't have to look too far to find abject poverty; people living in the most deprived situations in close proximity to wealth. It is there for you to see in many towns and cities, including Bigastro.

As bad as the conditions are for some in Bigastro, they don't come close to those in other nearby districts.

The spokesman for CLR, Joaquín Ezcurra, described the situation for the people living in Campaneta as "third world". From La Vereda La Fábrica to the end of the Camino Viejo de Almoradí there is no sewerage system.

The waste water from the houses flows into a back drain, El Azarbe de Las Barracas, causing bad smells attracting plagues of mosquitoes, rats and snakes. To make matters worse there is very little flow in the Azarbe so the human excrement remains at the back of the houses where it gradually seeps into the walls, permeating the interiors. Approximately 100 houses are affected.

For twenty years the people have complained but nothing has been done about it.