"I'm cold and I don't have a tent": the mission to find a new roof for the occupants of the B9 institute

BadalonaThey hold their hands to the fire and rub them together, seeking warmth. Conversations about football help pass the time. Tents are unfurled and piled up in rows. There are about 50 in the square opposite the former B9 high school in Badalona, ​​the building evicted on Wednesday. Its 400 occupants no longer live there, and about a hundred are barely surviving on the street across the way. Samba Niang was listening to music, smiling, shortly after the eviction. Now, as if suddenly aware of everything, her face has changed. She says she was cold the first night she slept outdoors. She fears she won't find a tent; she says they are very precious and that people fight to get one. "And I'm incapable of fighting," she laments.

While fires are lit and tents are set up, about twenty people enter the Montserrat parish church in Badalona. They sit in a circle. Among them are two occupants of the B9. The appeal came from Caritas Barcelona: they're looking for volunteers to help those evicted. But everyone quickly realizes that the problem isn't the people, but the place. Mamadou explains that he slept with three other people in a small tent. He wasn't cold. During the morning? "Scrap metal." At night? "Trying to make it happen."

The meeting covered many topics, such as the need for portable toilets in the square where they sleep. But above all, they focused on finding an alternative, while the occupants, as they explained, are moving to a new occupied building or another city. A temporary solution seems close, but it is not yet permanent, nor will it be. Caritas Barcelona and Badalona, ​​together with San Juan de Dios and in coordination with the Badalona Homeless Roundtable and various other organizations, are working quickly to find a space where they can live for an extended period. Everything is ready: food, clothing, and today they issued an appeal for volunteers. They are in talks with the Catalan government and the City Council, and several options are under consideration. This Thursday they were hoping that a space might become available, but in the end, it wasn't possible. They are hopeful that it will be possible this Friday. They want it to be a roof over the heads of the residents of B9, but also for other people in the same situation.

Letter from the Generalitat

In this regard, the Minister of Social Rights and Inclusion, Mònica Martínez Bravo, has written to the Mayor of Badalona, ​​Xavier García Albiol, requesting the reopening of the Can Bofí Vell shelter, which closed almost two years ago. She indicated that several social organizations, including Cáritas and the Red Cross, have offered "urgent assistance to the affected individuals." In the same letter, the Minister emphasizes that access to the municipal facility would be a "satisfactory solution" for everyone, as it would comply with the measures required by the court that authorized the eviction—which mandated that the city council provide the occupants with residential accommodation once the eviction was carried out—and would guarantee "care." Martínez Bravo also stated that, in a meeting held this Thursday with the Badalona City Council and the aforementioned organizations, all parties expressed their willingness to take charge of the immediate opening and subsequent management of the shelter.

The Catalan Parliament has also urged the Government to take "all necessary measures" to guarantee, together with the Badalona City Council, "residential alternatives" for those evicted from the B9 housing complex. This was achieved through the approval of a point in a motion by the Comuns party, which demands that the executive branch and the Albiol government provide housing for the residents of the B9 complex. Later that evening, Albiol responded that opening the Can Bofí Vell shelter was not viable due to "serious structural deficiencies" and that "neither the safety of the space nor the occupants can be guaranteed." The City Council has praised the collaboration between the council and the Generalitat (Catalan government) in "making effective" the B9 eviction and indicated that both administrations are now continuing to work to find a solution.

High vulnerability

In total, social services have identified around 60 highly vulnerable people and have taken steps to refer them to different services. Yesterday, only ten people were counted as having secured accommodation for the first night, and according to the social workers assisting those evicted, the group will gradually disperse. "People know where to make a living, more or less efficiently," one said. "No matter how much some might want to, they won't disappear; they'll find a way," another insisted. In fact, some of those affected admitted they would look for another occupied building—although in Badalona this is increasingly unlikely—because they have no other option.

Since Thursday, a cordon of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) has blocked access to the building. No one is attempting to cross it. The area will be monitored throughout the night by the Badalona Municipal Police and private security, and the operation will continue until the building is demolished, which will be in the coming days, according to municipal sources. Some people who lived in building B9 still have belongings inside and are unsure if they will be able to go back in to retrieve them. The reason they were given is that they had the opportunity to leave the building voluntarily and collect their things before the eviction. They say they especially miss the bicycles and carts that many used for work. In fact, there are several of these in the square. Those who did collect their belongings from the old high school have nowhere to put them. Shoes and clothes are laid out on the ground in the plaza, like a market stall. Dozens of suitcases, backpacks overflowing with clothes, and shopping bags full of clothes are scattered throughout the square. Some people are storing their belongings in shopping carts. Those who can are keeping warm by a fire on the ground. Some of them explain that they stayed in the high school until the very last minute. "We'll just have to hang in there," they say. One of them is only wearing a sweatshirt for warmth. "It's cold, isn't it? If it rained like it did on Wednesday, it would be a problem," he admits.

Regarding the possibility that these people might end up in other shelters or facilities in the metropolitan area, Barcelona City Council believes it is not within its purview to offer a response. "We are monitoring the evolving situation, but we understand that it is not Barcelona's responsibility to provide a response for Badalona," stated the Commissioner for Social Action, Sònia Fuertes.