On Monday last week, an unusual event occurred in the cemetery in the La Cartuja district of Zaragoza. Following the death of a family member, relatives gathered at the cemetery to say goodbye to Mercedes Trasobares for the last time. However, when they arrived at the facility, things did not go as expected. ““There was no undertaker and the worker there told us he couldn’t bury the Mercedes, it wasn’t his job.”Gloria Navarro, the deceased’s cousin, tells this newspaper.
“The pain of losing a loved one is compounded by the desperation of not being able to access their remains and the lack of staff to assist us,” he explains. “Mercedes was 72 years old. “Neither she nor her children deserve to go through this situation.”mint.
The situation was made worse because, when faced with an unsuccessful wait for a gravedigger to appear, Gloria explains: “The undertaker was supposed to be a family friend who was a mason.”
Despite the illogical situation, This is not the first time the Trasobares family has encountered such details at the La Cartuja cemetery, which is the property of the Zaragoza Provincial Council (DPZ). When Gloria went to the funeral of another relative eight months ago, her relatives experienced the same staff shortage once again. “We waited two hours until an undertaker from Casetas came,” the woman says.
Shortly after this first incident, Another family in a rural neighborhood experienced the same situation due to lack of workers. “The undertaker did not show up and the deceased had to be taken to the morgue,” says Gloria.
The woman makes her direct accusation: “What’s going on at La Cartuja cemetery?” she asks. According to the mayor of the neighborhood, José María Lasaosa, the problem stems from the DPZ. ““This cemetery is affiliated with this agency, and since workers are not available on the weekends, if someone dies on a Saturday, the paperwork will not be processed until Monday.”he argues.
DPZ sources told this newspaper that at funerals in La Cartuja cemetery “there are always two workers to carry them out, and from now on we have started to take the necessary steps to ensure that there are always three workers at funerals.” They state the following regarding what happened on October 16: It was stated that this was “due to unforeseen reasons that prevented the full availability of personnel.”
For Gloria, she says, this response is the same as “throwing the ball.” “My cousin is now resting in peace, but this needs to be known because this does not happen in any other cemetery in the city,” she says. Behind this fight to improve the conditions of these facilities is a long history of complaints from neighborhoods. “We have been negotiating with the DPZ for two years because there are not enough workers to cover the working hours.”Félix Moreno, secretary of the Jerónima Zaporta Neighborhood Association, says:
According to Moreno, this absence amounts to “a lack of interest, because right now this cemetery is not among the council’s priorities.”
The Trasobares family’s history of recidivism was the last straw in La Cartuja, and given this “inhumane” situation, residents of the neighborhood decided to collect signatures.
After two years of conflict, their efforts appear to be starting to resonate in the DPZ. “Next week, a meeting will be held to discuss the issue of the number of available workers, to which the mayor of La Cartuja will be summoned,” sources from the provincial institution said. The possibility of this cemetery turning into another place will not be discussed at the meeting. “It is managed by the Zaragoza City Council and is highly desired by the residents.”From DPZ, this issue is on the table and is evaluated positively because it will be positive for the users of the facilities,” they state, but they explain that “no decision has been taken on this issue and it has not been officially raised.”
Gloria insists that if this change in management occurs in the future, it will respond to widespread demand from neighbors who want the cemetery “to be the responsibility of the city council, like others in the city.”