Pedro Mancebo Gilabert, Orihuela Town Councillor and spokesman of the CLR party, has lobbied the local government to provide a Social Dining Room for needy families during the economic crisis – only to receive a point blank refusal.
According to the EC, the level of poverty is defined according to the number of families and poor people who have to survive on less than 60 per cent of the average income of their country. Pedro Mancebo told the plenary meeting of the Town Hall that here in Spain this situation affects nearly 20 per cent of households. It is estimated that more than half of the basic benefits provided by the social services are financed for the Town Halls who in return set aside between 6 per cent to 10 per cent of their annual budget for those falling into this level.
According to Spanish Law 7/85 Town Halls, whose town or district has more than 20,000 inhabitants, are obliged to grant social benefits.
The CLR party intends to make sure that needy families, especially ones with young children, in Orihuela and Orihuela Costa receive the support and assistance they need. One suggestion made to the council meeting was setting up what is referred to in Spanish as “comedor social” which in English is a good old fashioned soup kitchen or social dining room. In Spain there are approximately 24,000 seats nationwide in these “social dining rooms”. These are not only offered to people or families with little financial income, but are also available to people who have been excluded from normal society or who have suffered serious economical problems. The majority of these type of dining rooms are run by charity organisations who rely on financial help from the public. The majority of the meals provided in the dining rooms are free of charge. However, sometimes meals are offered at a symbolical price of 50 Cents, 1€ or 2€.
The service offered in the dining rooms differs from town to town.
Some offer a warm meal at lunchtime, others offer lunch and dinner, some offer the three daily meals.

Pedro Mancebo said: “We believe that this service would be a great benefit to needy families in our area, who through no fault of their own - in the majority of cases due to losing their jobs and the financial crisis - find themselves living on the or, in the worst cases, below the breadline.”
HELPING HAND REFUSED
The dining rooms also fulfil another important part of daily life. Not only do they provide the needy with a warm meal but they also offer people a step back onto the social ladder.
They offer groups of people who are usually cut off such as the elderly or unemployed, for example, a chance to meet and get together.
CLR believes that here on the Orihuela Costa the situation is acerbated by the number of foreigners who find that their situation and fortunes have changed dramatically. These people would be able to use the social dining rooms and therefore, continue paying for accommodation due to the money they would save on buying food. The party in convinced that due to the crisis the number of needy people and families has increased and it is the government’s obligation to supply meals and food to these people.
However, the CLR’s calls to offer a helping hand to those who need it most have been turned down by the ruling PP party. According to the PP social welfare spokesperson, Araceli Vilella, these social dining rooms function well in Madrid but one should not extrapolate these to the social requirements of Orihuela where the social network functions perfectly and then there is the issue that the dining rooms having to be run by volunteers.