On a warm, rainy lunchtime in November, the Casa Grande community centre in the Pumarejo neighbourhood of Seville is heaving. On the radio, a woman is singing Manu Chao’s ‘Clandestino’ to the accompaniment of flamenco-style hand clapping. Many people have arrived for the twice-weekly hot lunch, which disappears in the blink of an eye.
This popular community centre is home to around 20 groups, including Women Survivors of Gender Violence (Mujeres Supervivientes de Violencias de Género). The group offers support and training to women survivors of violence, and most of its members are migrant women.
Soda Sokhna from Senegal is here with her recently arrived cousin, who is looking for Spanish lessons. María Luisa Sánchez, a Honduran refugee, recently lost her job as a careworker and has dropped in “to see how I can help, how I can get help, and to join the group”.
