Man arrested who had pushed the neighbors of an entire block of Muntaner street to the limit

BarcelonaAfter months of headaches, the residents of the building at 107 Muntaner street are breathing a little easier since this Thursday. The Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested a neighbor who, for some time, had been making life impossible for the community of this building in Barcelona's Eixample district. According to the Catalan police, this Thursday, shortly before 4 p.m., access was gained to the problematic apartment with a court order, and the man was arrested for the crimes of home invasion, threats, and coercion.

As reported by ARA, the building had become one of the main conflict points in the Eixample and had accumulated dozens of calls from residents to 112. Before this Thursday's intervention, in fact, the Mossos had already had to intervene up to 49 times, as they had been alerted for arguments, threats, incidents causing insecurity among residents, and suspected drug possession. The residents' association had also submitted several requests to the City Council, and an inspection ruled out that the property was being used as a tourist apartment. Furthermore, those affected also requested legal advice from the council and were recommended to, as a community, agree to legally report the disturbances they were suffering.

The incidents described by the residents had reached the point of seeing a man in the stairwell with a knife or other men breaking down the door to gain entry. The owners of the other apartments in the building tried to report the dwelling as a drug den after observing the constant traffic of people entering and leaving the apartment showing signs of drug consumption. Due to the feeling of insecurity, the residents of the building even hired a private security service.

Beyond any drug consumption that might have occurred there, Mossos sources rule out that the dwelling was used as a drug den. In fact, among the crimes for which the arrested man is accused, there is, for now, none against public health. Agents from the Regional Operational Resources Area (ARRO), Citizen Security, Investigation, Urban Delinquency, and the Community Relations Office participated in the operation, attending to and informing the residents of the building.

Complaints also to the City Council

Both the Guàrdia Urbana and the Eixample district had also been aware of the situation for some time and had increased surveillance in the area. At the beginning of August, a Urbana patrol reported a person attempting to access the apartment carrying a rental bicycle, who could not prove they had obtained it legally. For this reason, they were investigated for alleged misappropriation.