Barcelona’s Sant Antoni neighbourhood saw the final phase of asbestos removal begin at the former Cardellach lift factory on Tuesday 26 May 2020. The work targeted the remaining asbestos roof at the site, which is now a car park, after an earlier round of removal in 2019.
The building sits inside the block bordered by Carrer de Casanova, Carrer de Villarroel, Carrer de Sepúlveda and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. It once housed the Cardellach lift manufacturing business, and the roof covered about 2,000 square metres in total.
Residents were told to keep windows closed during working hours, Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 17:00. The notices said the company would try to keep disruption to a minimum and asked neighbours to get in touch with any questions or problems during the works.
Neighbourhood groups, including the Asbestos Commission of the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Barcelona and Fem Sant Antoni, raised concerns about safety during the operation. They pointed to the risk of asbestos fibres spreading inside the site, especially because a petrol station in the car park was expected to stay open.
The community response came after the Ajuntament opened two urban discipline files against the owner, Garages, Representaciones, Accesorios y Talleres, S.A. (GRATSA), over poor maintenance at the site. One-third of the roof, closest to the Gran Via, had already been removed in summer 2019, but a procedural issue meant the rest needed a separate work plan and an extra building licence.
Esquerdes SL, the company carrying out the work, was registered with Spain’s asbestos risk companies register, a requirement for this kind of job. The plates were sprayed to stop fibres spreading, then removed one by one by workers in protective suits. The case underlines why asbestos remains a public health issue in older Barcelona buildings, even though it was banned in Spain in 2002.
Barcelona local news also reported that other asbestos removal work was taking place nearby, including a nearly 500-square-metre roof at a car park on Carrer del Comte d’Urgell. The original report said neither the FAVB nor local residents could confirm whether that work followed the right safety measures.
