Barcelona’s housing conflict was back in the spotlight this morning in the Eixample, where Olalla, a mother of three minor children, was evicted from her flat on Buenos Aires street by the Mossos d’Esquadra’s Brigada Mòbil (BRIMO) unit.
Dozens of protesters, organised by the Sindicat de Llogateres i Llogaters and other housing rights groups, tried to block the building entrance. Anti-riot police cleared the way for the judicial delegation. This was the second eviction attempt in recent days, after last week’s effort was postponed because of local pressure and a lack of police personnel.
According to the organising groups, municipal social services have certified Olalla’s social, economic and emotional vulnerability. They say the family had struggled to pay rent for months because of financial difficulties. The property owner, real estate fund New Amsterdam Developers (NAD), asked the courts for BRIMO intervention so the eviction could go ahead.
Co-living plans have also become part of the dispute. The Sindicat de Llogateres accuses NAD of planning to turn the building’s flats into co-living spaces, a model it says involves emptying homes, dividing them into rooms and pushing up the price. The company’s headquarters are in the same building. Property portals had previously listed rooms on Buenos Aires street for between 950 euros and 980 euros a month, but those listings have since disappeared.
Housing groups say these practices are illegal and accuse the administration of failing to act against NAD’s business model. Tensions rose between protesters and the Mossos throughout the morning, while the Tenants’ Union criticised the government of Salvador Illa, saying it had put “fifty BRIMO agents at the service” of the fund to evict a vulnerable family.
Olalla’s case has become another flashpoint in Barcelona’s wider housing debate, as rents keep rising and co-living models spread across the city. For more local coverage, see our community and sport pages.
Originally published by VilaWeb Feed. Read original article.
