Hi there,
It all started with something very basic: trying to contact the Cenlle Town Council. But what seemed like a simple administrative task ended up revealing a much deeper problem: a completely incompetent administration, adrift and unable to provide answers.
We made three formal complaints. And they are, in fact, three different examples of the same thing: a public administration that does not work.
The first had to do with the total lack of attention to citizens. For weeks we tried to contact them by phone and email during office hours, without success. This is not an isolated case, but a continuous practice.
In the second, we asked for something as simple as it is logical: that the planning document we requested and paid for—and which we expressly asked for in Spanish—be sent to us in that language. We received it only in Galician. To this day, we are still waiting for the Spanish version.
The third is the most delicate. Apparently, there is a formal complaint against our property, registered with the City Council under entry number 770. A neighbor claims that her house has dampness coming from our property, which is in ruins. In response to this, we requested information: has it been investigated? Has a technician been sent? Has evidence been requested? Has it been processed in accordance with the Galician Land Law?
We did not receive any response. But the worst thing is that neither the mayor nor the architect knew what we were talking about.
On May 27, we received a call from the mayor. She told us that she had received our three emails (the three complaints). But during the conversation, it was clear that she was not clear about the content of any of them. We tried to explain it to her.
The next day, the council architect called us, supposedly with the mayor at her side. She asked us to explain our concerns. We told her that everything was detailed in writing and that the mayor should have passed on the information to her. She replied that she had not received the emails.
A little later, the mayor called again. She was still confused, asking about the email from May 9 and repeating that they would respond in writing (because that’s what we asked for). But then, why did they call?
Where are the official responses?
If a complaint has been filed, it must be recorded in the system and responded to officially. That is what the law says.
After speaking with the mayor and the architect, we feel dismayed. Slow bureaucracy is one thing. This mixture of incompetence, lack of transparency, and total disorganization is quite another.
For all these reasons, we have reiterated our request to the Provincial Council of Ourense to intervene as a mediator. Not to speed up procedures, but to guarantee the most basic things: that the law is complied with, that we are properly informed, and that at least someone in the Cenlle City Council knows what is going on.
Later on, I will tell you about the responses we have received and how the complaint against the problematic neighbor has turned out.