Police have cleared the remaining Zona Franca homeless camps in Barcelona. Officers arrived at the industrial area of Zona Franca early on Tuesday morning. They urged the remaining homeless individuals to vacate the area. The operation targeted small encampments. These had formed after a major clearance of the main settlement just a week prior.
Sources familiar with the situation say agents approached the campers at 7:00 am. One young man had set up a tent in a flowerbed near the UPS facility. He stated that the officers arrived without warning. “They told us we would have to leave today,” he said. He expressed distress at having nowhere else to go. “They should have warned us at least two or three days in advance so we could organise ourselves.”
Your browser does not support the video tag.Home » Zona Franca Homeless Camps: Police Clear Remaining Rough Sleepers
The incident follows a significant operation on 10 February. The City Council described it as a necessary measure for health and safety, specifically for rat control. They insisted it was not an eviction.
Zona Franca Homeless Camps: Safety Concerns vs. Dispersal Tactics
Sources from the Zona Franca Consortium (CZFB) denied a formal eviction was underway. However, they noted that new concentration points could present “the same health problems” as the original settlement. Consequently, those areas would also need clearing. “We are not telling them to leave; it is work for their safety and that of the workers in the industrial estate,” they maintained.
Advocacy groups view the move differently. Enrique Mosquera, spokesperson for the platform Papeles para Todos (Papers for All), argued the police action confirmed suspicions. He said the initial “deratization” was a pretext for dispersal. “It is precisely what was intended… to disperse them and then gradually evict them in small groups,” Mosquera said. He warned that the loss of tents and documents hampers these individuals’ ability to access government regularisation programmes.
Council Debate Intensifies
The situation in the Zona Franca homeless camps has become a focal point of political debate within the Barcelona City Council. Sonia Fuertes, the commissioner for social action, defended the council’s approach on Wednesday. She insisted the 10 February operation was a “clearance, not an eviction”.
Fuertes reported that approximately 175 people had been living rough in the area. Of these, 151 maintained contact with social services. She highlighted that many were recent arrivals to the city. Half had arrived less than six months ago. She asserted that campers had received advance warning to remove their tents.
Opposition parties have strongly criticised the administration’s handling of the crisis. Antonio Verdera of the People’s Party (PP) argued the problem had simply been displaced “a few streets further away”. He claimed to have counted 66 tents in the vicinity. He estimated that around 130 people remain on the streets nearby.
“The serious thing is that they are still there, they have not been given another opportunity.”Antonio Verdera, PP Councillor
Verdera questioned the city’s priorities. He contrasted international aid spending with the lack of emergency housing. Meanwhile, Junts described the operation as a “publicity stunt” offering little solution. Additionally, Barcelona en Comú accused the Socialist-led government of pushing homeless people to the margins.
In a significant development during the commission, Barcelona en Comú succeeded in passing a proposal. It aims to create a “low-demand” shelter centre in the Sants-Montjuïc district. The proposal provides accommodation with fewer entry requirements. It received support from Junts, ERC, and the PP. Vox voted against it and the PSC abstained. This comes at a sensitive time for housing issues. An upcoming major housing protest is planned later this month.
Get all of the news delivered to your phone via our WhatsApp Broadcast Channel .
