Joan Miró park in Barcelona’s Eixample district is going through a rough patch. The space, built on the site of the city’s former slaughterhouse and the district’s first major public park, has become a construction site for water infrastructure and the L8 metro extension whilst also serving as refuge for a group of homeless people. Now local politicians are demanding urgent action to tackle rising insecurity and antisocial behaviour.
Junts per Barcelona’s Eixample councillor Joan Rodríguez has raised the alarm about deteriorating security and the return of what he calls a drug encampment. He’s calling for immediate measures to restore community safety and provide proper support for people living rough in the park. The group will present a formal request at Tuesday’s Eixample district meeting demanding an integrated response covering security, cleaning, social services and improved lighting.
According to Rodríguez, problems with security, drug dealing and consumption, and antisocial behaviour have worsened significantly. The councillor says ongoing construction works have created a sense of abandonment, as reported by local residents’ groups and shopkeepers. ‘We’re seeing a Barcelona we don’t like,’ Rodríguez said, adding that Eixample residents can’t enjoy the space because of the works, but also because it puts us face to face with people living on our streets without other options or resources.
The councillor criticised what he sees as a pattern of simply moving people around. ‘It can’t be that we keep clearing spaces like Ciutadella, Estació del Nord or now Joan Miró park, just shifting a reality that these people don’t deserve,’ he said. Rodríguez wants a two-pronged approach: the council working immediately to make the park a dignified, welcoming space, and social services providing real solutions for people living there.
At this afternoon’s Eixample district meeting, chaired by Rodríguez himself, Junts councillor Jaume Alcántara will formally request a special operation combining security, cleaning, social services and SASSEP (the Homelessness Support Service). The aim is to solve public space conflicts, strengthen security and prevention, improve night-time lighting and immediately launch community consultation on the park’s future design once current construction finishes.
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