Fifty years of Badia, the city that was born as a neighborhood

Bay of VallésThe story of Badia del Vallès is the most unusual of the housing estates that the Francoist Board of Trustees built to provide shelter for Spanish immigrants. From a bird's eye view, the layout of the buildings resembles the Iberian Peninsula, and on the ground, the street names are arranged faithfully to the geography. It is unique for many reasons. First, because it reaches 50 years not as a neighborhood but as a city—it has been one since 1994—with the unique feature of being the only one with all its homes (5,400) subsidized, although as of next year only a hundred or so will remain. The origin of Badia is a "big hit urban planning," explains the socialist Josep Martínez, mayor of the town since August last year, alluding to the fact that the Badia family bought the land just before its expropriation to make the neighborhood, which was born as a community of Barberà or Cerdanyola.

The poor planning of the land, which forced the neighborhood to be limited to an area of 0.93 kilometers, where up to 26,000 people were accommodated, who have remained in the current 13,000 apartments. of the inhabitants are over 65 years old and, among the demands of the residents and the council, is that of the public residence

Another unique feature is that Badia has no business activity, so tax collection is limited to small businesses and property taxes, making it the city with the lowest income and GDP in Catalonia and the highest unemployment rate. The main source of funding is the 3.5 million euro subsidy from the Generalitat (Catalan government) established by law. However, the mayor hopes to create wealth with a private plot designated for industrial and commercial purposes and a municipal plot on which he is pleading for the construction of a student residence, taking advantage of the proximity to the UAB. The campus is within walking distance, and if that proximity has facilitated the university entrance of Badia's children, it should now serve to make the city a "university district," Martínez proudly states.

The move of subsidized housing to the free market coincides with the real estate crisis. The future, according to Martínez, lies in being able to attract diverse neighborhood profiles to "change the social reality," although, for now, no demographic change has been noticed because the protection regime has prevented renewal beyond the biological. The migration rate, for example, is 7%, half that of the region, while the unemployment rate is double that of Catalonia. Next year, the last 1,400 homes will leave the protected market.

Apartments of 70 and 80 square meters have doubled in price in a decade, and from €120,000 last year, they will rise to €160,000, notes Anna Sallent, one of the partners at Finques Badia, who says that rents were "unthinkable until now."

The Residents' Association's greatest fear is the arrival of "vulture funds" seeking apartments a few kilometers from Barcelona, ​​well-connected, with electricity, an elevator, and in a well-served area, as explained by the association's president, Juan José Díaz, who wonders how the neighborhood's young people are supposed to compete with more affluent buyers. The mayor argues that "Catalonia's public housing policy shouldn't focus solely on Badia," but points out that there will still be around 200 public housing units left, apart from the 32 in the future development on Zaragoza Street, for which, at the moment, there are 200 candidates.

At 27 years old, Susana Rojas can't make the most sense of the numbers if she wants to become independent, and given that her grandparents have an apartment in the neighborhood, she's clear that the only option is "inheritance," because she wants to stay. She chats with her childhood friend Marta Rojana, who moved to Sabadell believing she'd moved upmarket and wanted to return when she became a mother. "Friends are coming back because it's cheaper, but we also feel good as a family," she says.

A ghost place

Díaz arrived at the age of 22 and recalls that it was a "ghost town," with no services. "We managed to build the nursery, school, library, and shops through neighborhood struggles and a lot of beatings from the Civil Guard," she recalls, emphasizing the determination of the first residents to overcome and survive. Although the first apartments were filled in 1973, it wasn't until July 1975 that the then-princesses, Juan Carlos and Sofía, symbolically handed over the keys. That day, "the secret police" were on every rooftop in the neighborhood, recalls Antonia Quintero, who moved into a new apartment on the central Avenida Burgos. Some of the apartments were raffled off, but most had already been awarded to public company workers, many of whom never lived there. This created jobs for families in need of shelter, who didn't regularize their situation until three decades later.

Eva Menor came to Badia from Madrid "for love" and was mayor for 15 years, until President Salvador Illa appointed her Minister of Equality and Feminism in August of last year. Her partner was raised in Badia, and they continue to live with their daughters in the same apartment they settled in 1997. "We have no intention of leaving because Badia is a quiet, comfortable city, where everyone knows each other and where you can get around on foot," says the minister, offering the best of the city's promotions, where she says she has made "...

From the mayor's office he had to face the mortgage crisis and the pandemic, but as a positive thing he points out that all the difficulties - past and present - have made Badia a community "proud of so much collective struggle" and assures that it is "a success story with a great future"

Amiant i els

Talking about the future also means talking about the removal of the asbestos panels covering most buildings, a project that occupies and worries both residents and the council. The removal is expected to begin with 127 buildings and, in a second phase, the remaining 38. The removal of asbestos, as well as the demand for the residence, will be discussed this Monday at the alternative reception that residents are preparing for the visit of the King and Queen of Spain. "If [the monarchy] has never cared about Badia, what are they doing here? Let them leave the spotlight to us, the anonymous residents who have made Badia great," says Díaz.