A man commits suicide in l'Hospitalet before losing the shoe shop he managed

The Hospitalet of LlobregatHis name was Javi, he was 60 years old and he was the neighborhood cobbler. Practically all the residents of Martí i Blasi street, in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, knew him because they had brought him shoes to be repaired. This Wednesday, a resident of the building where the shoe repair shop he ran was also located saw the shutter half-down and suspected that something was wrong. Throughout the morning, he explains to ARA, several neighbors had wondered why the business was closed. Finally, he decided to lift the shutter and found Javi's lifeless body.

The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating his death as a suicide and rule out the involvement of other people. As reported by El Món and confirmed by ARA, the man had left a farewell note addressed to his relatives, in which he lamented that he had to leave the premises. People from his circle claim that the property owners had initiated a procedure to evict him and not renew his contract, and that October 5th was the deadline. “The shoe repair shop was his life. He spent all day at the shop,” these same sources explain.

Javi did not live at the shoe repair shop, although his acquaintances do not rule out that he might have spent a night there, considering the long days he put in. He had another home in another neighborhood of l'Hospitalet, according to people in his circle. Sources from the Mossos confirm that the premises were active and that it was not the man's home.

"I didn't know what to do"

Police sources state that the Mossos did not have any pending operations at this premises related to an eviction. However, this does not rule out the possibility that an enforcement procedure was underway, as the police do not intervene in all processes of this type. Sources from the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), for now, have also not specified whether there was any open judicial procedure.

From Javi's circle, on the other hand, they insist that there was indeed a procedure and that the man was very worried about the situation. “He didn't know what to do, neither with the machines nor with his life,” explain people close to him.

The man's body was found right at the entrance to the premises, where there is now a lit candle in his memory. "I lifted the shutter, saw him, and went into shock," explains the neighbor who found him. His death has struck a neighborhood where he was very well known and where he had been running this shoe repair shop for years—so many that no one can specify how many. According to people in his circle, he had two daughters and a sister.