The Sabadell City Council is in a race against time to prevent the eviction of twenty-six families from a residential building in the city’s Creu de Barberà neighbourhood. This eviction, scheduled for March 4, threatens to displace dozens of residents, including fourteen families already identified as vulnerable by social services.

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The affected properties are all located at 77 Comte Ramon Berenguer. Municipal officials are urgently trying to secure a postponement to analyse each family’s circumstances and arrange alternative housing solutions where necessary.

A Complex History

Sareb, Spain’s ‘bad bank’ established in 2012 to manage toxic assets from the country’s restructured financial institutions, owns the building. According to municipal sources cited by El Periódico, this situation is not a typical case of forced-entry squatting, often referred to as ‘patada en la puerta’. Instead, it stems from families who previously held social rent agreements with a former owner and subsequently fell into arrears.

The City Council has addressed this issue for several months. Eloi Cortés, Sabadell’s Deputy Mayor, confirmed the administration had pursued a two-pronged strategy. Firstly, they attempted to acquire the entire building from Sareb using a ‘tanteo y retracto’ (pre-emption and redemption) mechanism. However, Sareb sources indicated that recent regulatory changes prevented the sale in this specific case.

A Race Against Time

With the purchase option off the table, the local government has shifted its focus entirely to social intervention. A dedicated team is interviewing the families to assess their individual needs and find viable housing alternatives. The overarching goal is to delay the court-ordered eviction to allow this process to conclude.

The City Council has briefed the Generalitat de Catalunya, the regional government, on the situation, and dialogue with Sareb remains open. Cortés emphasised the unique nature of the case, which he said the council already had “on the radar” and had not considered a conflictual occupation.

“In some of the flats, these are not recent occupations of the ‘kick the door in’ variety, but rather families who were already residing in the building with a social rent agreement from the previous owner,” Cortés explained. He stressed this is why the council believes it is necessary to provide specific attention to these situations and prevent them from being left on the street.

As the March 4 deadline approaches, the families at Comte Ramon Berenguer face intense uncertainty. The City Council’s efforts represent a critical attempt to mitigate a potential housing emergency in Sabadell, a situation reflecting the broader challenges of eviction and housing insecurity across Catalonia.

Primary source: El Periódico Barcelona.