The Barcelona City Council refused to accommodate the displaced individuals at the Centre for Social Emergencies (CUESB). Municipal sources argued that the eviction was a planned action, meaning it did not qualify as a “case of sudden urgency or emergency.”
“"We understand that it is not up to Barcelona as a municipality to generate a response towards Badalona."
This decision leaves Badalona Mayor Xavier García Albiol isolated in managing the humanitarian crisis. Following the closure of Can Bofí Vell, Badalona currently lacks emergency shelters for homeless people.
Gil stressed that homelessness is a growing global phenomenon and insisted that the solution requires a “perspective beyond the municipal level,” pointing to the responsibility of the regional government, the Generalitat de Catalunya. She noted that solutions are needed for Badalona, Barcelona, Lleida, and Tarragona alike.
Dozens of people, approximately fifty, evicted from the former B9 institute in the Sant Roc neighborhood, were forced to spend the night of Wednesday, December 17, sleeping rough in front of the building, which had been boarded up by the Mossos d’Esquadra.
