Via Laietana police station faces mounting criticism as memory rights organisations challenge its continued police use despite being declared a democratic memory site.
Human rights groups have filed formal objections against the Spanish government’s decision to maintain police operations at the former police headquarters, calling the move “perverse” and incompatible with genuine historical remembrance.
Via Laietana Controversy Escalates
Pilar Rebaque, a lawyer with the Dignity Commission, argues that maintaining police functions fundamentally undermines the building’s memorial purpose. Consequently, organisations have called for a demonstration on November 23rd demanding the building serve exclusively as a memory space. Rebaque insists that memory site designation cannot remain merely symbolic while police activities continue within the same walls.
Furthermore, campaigners express deep concern about political will across multiple government levels. Antoni Coll, president of the Popular Memory Athenaeum, specifically criticised both PSOE and PSC parties for lacking commitment to transform the space completely. The groups note their objections reflect a manifesto supported by 236 organisations and 41 Catalan municipalities calling for full conversion.
The controversy emerges amid broader political tensions affecting Barcelona’s governance. Memory organisations argue that a consolidated democracy cannot permit spaces marked by historical repression to continue housing police functions, particularly given current political dynamics.
Additionally, campaigners demand property transfer to the Catalan government, including documentary archives from the former police station. They insist on active participation in redefining the building’s purpose, maintaining that shared police and memorial uses remain fundamentally incompatible given the site’s traumatic symbolism.
The Spanish State Secretariat for Democratic Memory’s resolution currently remains in public consultation phase. Memory organisations maintain their position that only complete transformation can preserve the building’s integrity while fulfilling its reparative and educational functions for future generations.
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