Entities and Government reach an agreement to rehouse those evicted from the B9 who were under the bridge

Badalona / BarcelonaAfter a week outdoors and facing the tension and Tension among a small part of the residents of Badalona Contrary to the lack of support for those evicted from the B9 building, the Department of Social Rights has signed an agreement with various organizations to provide shelter for those who, since Saturday, have been camped under the C-31 bridge and in the ten or so that had occupied the former municipal shelter of Can Bufí Vell, which has been closed for almost two years. The agreement guarantees accommodation for the next two months in different locations throughout Catalonia and also means abandoning the plan to house them at the Parish of Our Lady of Montserrat, the space that could not be opened on Sunday due to a blockade by a few dozen residents. "In the end, the minority won," sources from the third sector told ARA. Without the possibility of using the parish, all parties involved have been working to find new residential spaces and, finally, with the consensus of those affected and the mediation of the ombudsperson for grievances, Esther Giménez-Salinas, the operation to try to house the more than one hundred of the 400 people from Badalona began this Tuesday. Thus, the regional government has already emptied the municipal shelter and transferred those who had occupied it to various towns to escape the cold. It has also deployed a team with municipal social services and the Red Cross to rehouse those currently under the bridge in the Sant Roc neighborhood. The total number of people included is currently unknown as a count is still underway.

This Tuesday, minibuses waited parked next to the C-31 bridge for migrants who accepted the government's offer to board. With four backpacks on his back, a man crossed the pedestrian crossing and headed towards the Red Cross vehicle, which, once full, left Badalona. The scene was repeated throughout the afternoon. "I want to sleep in a bed and take a proper shower," explains Lamine, from Senegal. Next to him, Kofi sits with his leg in a cast. On Monday night, someone hurt him, and it's broken. He, too, has agreed to go to a shelter.

Reluctance to march

But not everyone thinks like themBallah works in scrap metal and sends practically everything he earns back to Senegal. He shows videos of his children dancing and a photo of his 102-year-old father. He says his family depends on the money he sends each month and that he can't afford to leave Badalona. There, he knows where to collect scrap metal and where to sell it. Even though it's precarious, he has a network that's hard to abandon. Others, like Mamadou, explain that they are simply afraid of "being left alone," of going to a shelter and not knowing anyone, not even their new city. Sources from the organizations that have reached an agreement to relocate them explain that they haven't yet had enough time to explain what will happen to them. Carles Sagués, from the organization Badalona Acull, explains that they are distrustful people who have been deceived many times. The organizations hope that, with time, they will gradually convince more of the occupants. For now, many are staying in the same camp. Similarly, some of the residents admit that after a couple of nights in the shelter they will try to return to Badalona. Although the highway bridge is the most visible image of the crisis, the truth is that organizations have already relocated 52 evicted people, who have been staying for days in hostels, hotels, and shared apartments financed by the regional government. "We've looked everywhere for all kinds of spaces, wherever there was one," explains Mercè Darnell, spokesperson for Cáritas in this humanitarian crisis. Among this group of those taken in are the 15 highly vulnerable individuals who were supposed to enter the church on Sunday but couldn't due to the pressure, insults, and threats from the small group of neighbors who gathered. "We've never had opposition against Cáritas over just 15 people; it's unheard of," says Darnell, who has a long history of relocating homeless people and in the 2001 migrant detentionAt that time, there were no opposing demonstrations, and "the migrants were the same," notes the official, who believes that the new global political leadership is responsible for stoking hatred among those who "are struggling, can't make ends meet, and don't feel supported." Sources within the sector warn of the risk that the escalating tension in Badalona against poor migrants "will set a precedent" and that a minority will ultimately undo efforts that have taken considerable time and dialogue. Darnell laments the use of a "criminalizing language" Those opposed to the eviction of residents from the B9 housing complex, along with other sources within the community, are criticizing Mayor Xavier García Albiol's behavior. He is allegedly inflaming tensions among residents with anti-migrant messages and promises that migrants will not remain in Badalona, ​​all while presenting himself as a mediator. It's also worth noting that municipal social services have been working within the B9 complex and had opened files on the most vulnerable residents, even relocating a number of them before the eviction order was issued. However, Albiol has repeatedly stated that his city council "doesn't spend a single euro" on this group.

Attempted employment at another center

On Tuesday morning, police evicted a group of residents from the former B9 high school in Badalona after they attempted to occupy another disused educational building in the city. According to police sources, neighbors alerted authorities to the attempted occupation, and the city's Guardia Urbana (municipal police), along with a public order unit from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), carried out the eviction. Because the occupation had only occurred a few minutes earlier, police intervened. This former high school is located on Avenida Mónaco in Badalona, ​​on the border with Santa Coloma de Gramenet.

In total, around sixty people were evicted, including former residents of the B9 building and some activists. The police operation proceeded without any notable incidents, according to the same sources.