The residents of Calle Jerez Perchet in Malaga's Ciudad Jardín district have reported a 57-year-old neighbour, who allegedly suffers from a mental ... health disorder, for ongoing disturbances.
They have already lodged numerous complaints with the National Police and are appealing to the authorities for help, stating that the woman needs urgent medical assistance and a care environment.
According to her neighbours, the woman used to live with her mother, who was responsible for her care and for monitoring her medication. Following the mother's death this summer, however, the patient has been alone in the flat, which is on the fifth floor.
Since then, the lack of medical supervision has caused her condition to deteriorate drastically. What began in July and August as isolated incidents of harassment or food being thrown out of the window has now become a daily risk.
Jenifer, chair of the homeowners' association, is the person on whom the woman seems to have fixated. "The situation is absolutely heartbreaking. I fear for the lives of my children, one is five and the other three. Her flat is right above the entrance door and we've got nothing to cushion the impact. Whatever she throws comes right down on us," Jenifer said.
The first complaint Jenifer ever lodged concerns an incident that happened on 12 August. The woman threw a glass bottle at her from the fifth floor while she was walking down the street with her children. Jenifer also reported that the neighbour had repeatedly relieved herself at the door of her flat, smearing faeces across the lift mirror, pouring bleach onto her landing and inserting toothpicks into the lock to render it inoperable.
Death threats also feature in the complaint, with verbatim statements such as: "When I see you in the street, I'm going to strangle you"; "I'm going to kill you"; and "I'm going to harm myself so that I can report you".
The last few days have been particularly difficult. On 15 October, at around 3pm, Jenifer called the Local Police because her neighbour had allegedly turned up on her landing and started kicking the door, shouting demands to be let in so she could look for Jenifer's husband.
Two Local Police patrol cars and two National Police patrol cars were dispatched to the scene. That same day, another neighbour in the block filed a complaint regarding similar incidents.
Attacks on parked vehicles are another major problem. On 16 October, the woman allegedly scratched the roof of Jenifer's husband's car and threw a ceramic plate at the vehicle. The following day, she smashed the window of Jenifer's father's car by hitting it with a saucepan.
"She threw the iron pole from the awning through the window and, when I went down, she was hitting a car with that very same pole. She smashed another neighbour's car," Jenifer said. On that occasion, the woman even injured herself while hitting the cars.
In another recent incident, the neighbour threw a vase which narrowly missed hitting Selu, another resident whom Sur has been able to contact.
This past Sunday, 18 October, tensions reached a peak. Following several threats of arson made the previous day, at around 12.45pm, residents of the block alerted the emergency services to a cloud of smoke rising from the woman's flat.
The police, the fire service and a canine unit were dispatched to the scene. According to the residents' accounts, while they were waiting on the street for the emergency services to arrive, the woman threw three saucepans of boiling water at them. Paramedics eventually took her to hospital.
Given the lack of institutional support, the residents have had to organise themselves. "We've exchanged phone numbers with the neighbours opposite because they can see her from there. They're keeping an eye on her to tell us whether we can go out," Jenifer said.
They have contacted the woman's brother, who, although aware of the seriousness of the situation, says he has no legal authority to take action on the matter.