Cañada Real is Europe's largest informal settlement. Home to over 8,000 people, the 14km long, linear neighbourhood sits at the south of Madrid and has done since the 1960's. Originally, internal migration within Spain, and the rising costs of living in the capital, meant that buying a plot of land on this ancient cattle track could mean a new, affordable home. Now, homes are built by those coming from countries such as Morocco and Romania. 

In October 2020, those in Sector 6 (making up over half of the settlement) experienced a power outage. A power outage that was never resolved. They battled Storm Filomena and half of the Covid pandemic with no light, no power, no heating and no hot water. Their situation, over 2 years later, remains the same.

In January 2022, I travelled with a translator and a graphic designer to Cañada Real to make a documentary about what life was like living through their second winter without electricity. 

Those in Sector 6 have campaigned over the last two years for the right to enter contracts with Naturgy, the power supply company responsible for Cañada Real. However, so far, they have been unable to do so. Naturgy claim that they don't own the correct documents in order to open contracts. Local MP's and human rights lawyers state otherwise.

Currently, there's a lot of speculation about why Sector 6 has no power. Some believe that the media's to blame having dubbed the area as the 'drug supermarket of Madrid.' Others claim that the housing development in the area requires the Sector to be demolished, otherwise the new house prices would plummet after completion.

The UN have called on Madrid City Council and the Spanish Government to do something to resolve the issue, branding it a 'human rights violation.' Amnesty International have also condemned the issue, imploring more to be done to bring power and heating back to those that live in Cañada.