Barcelona involves the Government in the rehabilitation of buildings at risk in Besòs-Maresme

BarcelonaAn agreement has been reached in Barcelona City Hall to involve the Catalan government (Generalitat) in the rehabilitation of at-risk buildings in the Besòs-Maresme neighborhood. First Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet and the leader of Barcelona en Comú, Gemma Tarafa, detailed the terms of the pact on Friday, reached in exchange for tax ordinances. The agreement primarily entails the government of Salvador Illa taking a more active role in the recovery of a neighborhood where housing is at a critical juncture. critical situationAs explained, a specific public entity will be created with participation from the City Council and the Generalitat (Catalan Government) to expedite the work and allocate 400 million euros over the next twelve years to rehabilitate some 4,000 dilapidated apartments in the area. The objective of this new tool, with the involvement of the Catalan Government, is to accelerate the regeneration of a neighborhood where hundreds of residents have been living for more than three years with shoring in their homes, in buildings with structural damage and affected by aluminosis (a type of concrete cancer). Until now, the opposition had been highly critical of Collboni's administration due to the slow pace at which, they claimed, a rehabilitation project initiated by Ada Colau's government in the previous term was progressing. This delay jeopardizes the arrival of Next Generation EU funds earmarked for the area's rehabilitation and even cost a reprobation in the same Bonet in April.

During Friday's appearance, Bonet defended the importance of an agreement that implies the "shared responsibility" of other administrations in a challenge that "goes beyond being a city challenge." She explained that the plan is to have the new entity ready before the end of the year, allowing them to tackle the regeneration of the Besòs-Maresme area with "more tools, more resources, and above all, greater agility." Tarafa also argued that the agreement should allow for a "leap forward" in a rehabilitation project that "has not progressed as it should have." "The residents can't wait any longer," she concluded.

Beyond the Besòs-Maresme

The agreement signed between the Collboni government and the Comuns speaks of more than 4,000 apartments in the Besòs-Maresme neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​a figure that goes beyond the one cited until now by the municipal executive. The plan The report, made public in early 2024 by the Sant Martí district councilor, David Escudé, estimated that 204 apartments needed rehabilitation during this term, 693 more with serious or very serious structural damage that would need to be addressed during the next term, and 354 that required further attention. Tarafa also emphasized that the problem extends beyond the Besòs-Maresme neighborhood and affects other areas, such as Trinitat Vella. Therefore, he opined that in the long run, the City Council needs to rehabilitate 6,000 apartments in the northern part of the city. Bonet acknowledged that, after Besòs-Maresme, the second most complex area is Trinitat Vella, and expressed confidence that the agreement with the Generalitat (Catalan government) would free up resources from the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning to work in that area and accelerate its rehabilitation.