Badalona eviction crisis threatens to leave over 400 vulnerable residents homeless within 15 days, in what is described as the largest potential mass eviction in Catalonia.
A judge has authorised the clearance of the B9, an abandoned school building in Badalona, where most residents are migrants in irregular situations with no housing alternatives.
Badalona Eviction Crisis Sparks Urgent Social Debate
The Badalona City Council, led by Mayor Xavier García Albiol, has repeatedly stated its intention to clear the building as soon as possible.
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Consequently, officials have warned they will only rehouse those already known to social services, who represent a minority of residents. “The B9 is the result of his [Albiol’s] policy,” charged Younous Drame, a resident of the property, during a press conference at Parliament on Friday.
Residents’ representatives have demanded an alternative solution that does not force them onto the streets, especially as temperatures have plummeted. According to court documents accessed by Ara, the council now has a fifteen-day window to carry out the eviction. Meanwhile, the defence team for the B9 residents has already filed urgent interim measures with the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) to try to halt the action.
The judge’s ruling permits police entry and locksmiths to assist with the eviction, which must be carried out with the “minimum force indispensable” and following the municipal protocol for assisting homeless people. Furthermore, the council plans a social assistance operation on the eviction day to “attend to those people who make a specific social request,” with specialists in homelessness.
However, the Public Prosecutor’s Office argues that over the past year, the council has not undertaken “any action aimed at providing effective assistance to the people in the building at the time of their eviction.” Regarding the possibility of referring these people to social services in other municipalities, the prosecutor considers the council’s request was “completely empty of content” and offered “no material help.”
This situation highlights the severe pressure on housing and social services in the metropolitan area, a theme also explored in our coverage of recent protests in L’Hospitalet. The judge maintains that municipal homeless assistance measures must be adopted and emergency social care offered, as the residents are in a vulnerable situation. Nevertheless, she has not prevented the eviction from proceeding.
A property department report included in the ruling warns of “the existence of serious and imminent risks to the health and safety of the occupants,” citing manifest insalubrity and fire risk from uncontrolled electrical modifications. Conversely, the defence for the B9 residents warns that the “absolute lack of residential alternatives” and the “evident risk of homelessness” posed by a mass eviction must be considered, especially in winter when low temperatures multiply health risks.
The cohabitation in this space, which has been insufficient for demand for some time, underscores the municipal government’s inaction on social matters. Mayor Albiol has cleared almost all of the city’s settlements, leading with a stigmatising and criminalising discourse. This situation reflects broader social tensions, similar to those that prompted widespread protests on social issues across Spain.
Last August, Mossos d’Esquadra arrested a man for killing another inside the institute following a fight. Some residents told Ara they had only recently arrived at the B9 and had been taken in because they had nowhere else to go. Nine cases of tuberculosis detected in the building over the last two years have also not softened Albiol’s stance. The health department has ruled out any risk of the disease spreading, stating all positive cases have received treatment.
Ultimately, residents warn that the number of people in need will only grow without solutions that go beyond eviction. For all the efforts to clear the B9, the underlying Badalona eviction crisis and the people at its heart will not simply disappear.
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