The Félix Santiago Melián SL business group will evict around 100 people from the former Mr. Leacock finca in Santa María de Guía, northern Gran Canaria, on June 30. At least 79 are registered there, including families with eleven children in vulnerable situations. Guía's town hall requests inter-institutional collaboration due to the lack of housing alternatives.
A ruling from the Court of First Instance and Instruction number two of Santa María de Guía orders the eviction on June 30 from the former Mr. Leacock factory, on the Guía to Gáldar road. Félix Santiago Melián SL, the strongest business group in northern Gran Canaria, will carry it out. The town hall estimates up to 200 residents, though those affected say around 100 people, including eleven minors.
The inhabitants, mostly bricklayers, farmers, and street vendors, have built about 50 homes and shacks in the ruins of the old warehouse. Many registered there while working the group's lands. Mayor Alfredo Gonçalvez notes that 24 use municipal social services, including families with children schooled in Guía.
Abdul El Guerouh, living there since 2007, says: “I don't sleep thinking where I'm going to go”. Etuani, with three children, plans a peaceful demonstration and says he invested 19,000 euros in his home. Ahmed Ouarar, on dialysis since 2023, and Salah Daaif, who spent 3,000 euros on his dwelling, point to a lack of affordable rentals due to tourism.
The Félix Santiago Melián group, founded in 1961, declined to comment, stating it “has no interviews planned on this matter”. Historically, the finca belonged to Mr. John Milburn Leacock, an entrepreneur with communist ideals who bequeathed land to his workers.
