1.75 million euros: Caixabank puts the former ICV headquarters up for sale

BarcelonaOn July 20, 2010, Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV) said goodbye to its historic headquarters on Ciutat de Barcelona street, next to City Hall, to move to a much larger and more modern one – internally, not externally – a few minutes' walk away. In Passatge del Rellotge, accessible from a gate on Escudellers street, the eco-socialists remained there until 2019, when, drowned in debt, they had to file for bankruptcy to liquidate the party that was the heir to the PSUC. In the midst of the real estate bubble, that new headquarters had cost 7.5 million euros – including a significant renovation –, financed mainly by Caixabank. Seven years later, that building that ended up condemning the party is for sale on the real estate portal Building Center – Caixabank's real estate subsidiary – for 1.75 million euros. It is no longer owned by ICV, but by the same financial institution, which has taken it over due to the impossibility of selling it during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Caixabank and, to a lesser extent, BBVA, have in fact assumed a good portion of the assets that ICV still had left, according to sources involved in the bankruptcy proceedings, which closed on January 23, explained to ARA. Judge Manuel Huerta decreed the definitive liquidation of Iniciativa two months ago, despite the fact that since July 18, 2019, the party had been inactive. The workers were laid off before the bankruptcy proceedings began – they are collecting severance pay through the Salary Guarantee Fund (FOGASA) – and the political structure, then led by David Cid (today a deputy in the Parliament), Marta Ribas (on the RTVE board of directors), and Ernest Urtasun (Minister of Culture), was dissolved seven years ago. A large part of the membership moved to Comuns, the brand under which ICV had already been running since 2014. The main objective of the bankruptcy administrator during these years, therefore, has been to try to sell the 26 properties that the party had scattered throughout the territory.

No disloyal administration

During the insolvency proceedings, no disloyal administration was detected by the party's leaders and economic officials, and legal sources consulted by ARA explain that "it has been closed well," despite the impossibility of selling some of the assets –such as the national headquarters–, which have ended up in the hands of creditors. Sources from the former ICV leadership emphasize that there were no debts with Social Security or the Treasury, and the workers' payrolls were up to date. The debt, mainly mortgage debt, of about 9.2 million euros –which Comuns did not assume despite absorbing ICV–, and the drastic reduction in income were the reasons why the ecosocialist leaders made the decision to liquidate the formation.

Of Iniciativa, the Nous Horitzons foundation, linked to the European Green Party, and also the PSUC, which maintains a different NIF, are still active. The PSUC is now administered collectively to preserve its historical archive and maintain the memory of one of the main parties of the democratic opposition to Francoism.

"A commercial premises of 1,140 m² located on the ground floor of a building built in 1864 in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, near the port, with good transport links, nearby bus and metro stops, good access to the B-10 road in a few minutes and with the train station a 15-minute walk away". This is the advertisement that can be read today on the Caixabank Building Center portal. In addition to being sold (1.75 million euros), it can also be rented for 10,730 euros per month.