Eviction of occupied building in Manresa halted: "It's a clear case of terrible speculation"

BarcelonaBlock 8 in Manresa, an occupied building owned by the Cerberus fund and home to eight families with children, has been averted from its planned eviction this Monday. After about a hundred people slept in the building following a call from the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages and Capitalism (PAHC) of Bages, and another 200 gathered at the entrance to block the court officials, the eviction has been indefinitely postponed. According to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), the eviction has been suspended without a new date at the request of the owners. This was the third attempt to carry out an eviction of the building in the capital of Bages, after the investment fund that owns it filed a lawsuit. Yuli, the woman who had the eviction order, called for continued struggle to bring the building into public hands. "We are very determined families; we need social housing because this building belongs to us right now," she stated. She lives there with her partner and young son and argued that the building was abandoned and unfinished, and that the residents themselves had made it habitable. The Manresa City Council was also "strongly" opposed to the eviction, and Mayor Marc Aloy stated on Monday that, while employment "should never be a means to access housing," the investment fund "has neglected its responsibilities" regarding the property for years. The council asserted that it requested a stay of the eviction on February 4th, proposing a solution to resolve the case and regularize the situation of vulnerable residents through social housing. "The City Council has been working to resolve this peacefully, because it is a housing emergency," Aloy insisted. However, the request was denied.

According to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), the property owner had filed an eviction lawsuit due to the occupation by Yuli and her family. Yuli, who received legal advice, requested a stay of eviction, arguing that she had a minor child in her care and was in a vulnerable situation. However, the judge in Manresa ruled that the social services report did not substantiate this vulnerability, stating that the affected party is a "young woman of working age who earns a monthly income of 1,000 euros."

The mayor accuses the fund of speculation

The City Council also expressed regret that the property owner had "initially committed" to selling the building for €450,000 and subsequently increased the price by €200,000. "We feel cheated," stated Aloy. All of this occurred without halting Yuli's eviction with a social housing offer. In this regard, the mayor asserted that the fund "has broken its commitment to the City Council to stop the eviction," and was highly critical: "It's a clear case of terrible speculation by a large property owner." Furthermore, the mayor indicated that since the property owner put the building up for sale, two other organizations have expressed interest in acquiring the property: the Catalan Housing Agency and a social foundation. The City Council itself has exercised its right of first refusal, but in this instance, it did so to stay informed about the entire process, not to consider purchasing the property. Therefore, he described the situation as "Kafkaesque": "They shouldn't have waited until the last minute; all it has done is generate unnecessary anguish for vulnerable people."

Joan Garcia, one of the spokespeople for PAHC Bages, celebrated that the eviction "has been stopped thanks to the struggle and popular pressure," after a mobilization that, as he explained, "was difficult" because the court officials had orders to carry it out. Furthermore, the platform also applauded the City Council for exercising its right of first refusal and for opening purchase negotiations. They also emphasized that they will continue the fight on the blog, as they have done for the past four years.