Sabah, a Bazaar Businesswoman, Has Turned Her Home in the Los Rosales Neighborhood Into a Makeshift Shelter and Aid Hub, Serving Up to 400

She opens her door at 9 a.m. and keeps it open until 11 p.m., offering food, clothing, showers, and a refuge for vulnerable girls. A network of Muslim women from Los Rosales, El Príncipe, and La Reina cooks, sorts donations, and seeks safe spots for those sleeping on the streets. Neighbors contribute food, money, and vehicles; children have emptied their piggy banks.

On the rooftop, volunteers stir a meat stew in large pots, distributing about 200 rations yesterday, with another 400 people coming later for showers and meals. Men and boys wash with buckets on the terrace, while women use indoor bathrooms for privacy. Underwear is the hardest item to find, Sabah says, noting her daughter fetched packages from Gibraltar and she gave away her husband's and sons' briefs.

Her priority is minors: four arrived unannounced overnight, and three girls came the previous night with torn clothes, seeking help. She recounts an attempted rape she witnessed, and activists Usman and Abdalá have set up a safe zone for women and girls at a futsal court, where two 17-year-olds were rescued from a group of five men with prison tattoos who tried to drag them into the woods. The girls tried to report the incident to the National Police, but officers allegedly told them to go to the Tarajal warehouses, a shantytown near the border.