Maximum pressure on a foreign fund to stop an eviction to build 'coliving' spaces in Gràcia

BarcelonaMaximum pressure is being applied to try and stop the eviction of Txema Escorsa, a resident of the building at 14 Sant Agustí Street in the Vila de Gràcia neighborhood. The Barcelona City Council and the city's ombudsman, David Bondia, took action this Tuesday to push the New Amsterdam Developers (NAD) fund into negotiations to avoid the eviction scheduled for Wednesday morning. The Tenants' Union has already mobilized against the eviction, organizing a protest this afternoon similar to the one held in front of Casa Orsola a year ago.

Txema is the first resident mentioned on this blog against whom there is a eviction orderNAD bought the property in December 2023 and has since refused to extend the rental contracts with the aim of converting the apartments into colivings as they became vacant. A practice that, at the time – before the Catalan Parliament's law regulating seasonal rentals came into effect – allowed them to charge €2,700 a month for an apartment that previously cost €775. Currently, four of the eleven apartments in the Sant Agustí building are already being rented out. Two others are empty.

This Tuesday, the City Council escalated its stance against the fund, demanding a halt to all legal proceedings against residents seeking their eviction. "We find it unacceptable to carry out the eviction and not return to dialogue," explained the City Council's Housing Commissioner, Joan Ramon Riera, who recalled that last autumn he had already met with representatives of NAD to ask them to maintain the residential use of the apartments, but the owners refused to budge.

During this time, the City Council has also imposed coercive fines of €20,000 on New Amsterdam Developers for failing to legalize construction work that the council's inspection services deemed irregular. These inspections, as explained the NOWThey arrived almost 10 months after the neighbors reported the case in January 2024, and even after Barcelona's ombudsman, David Bondia, became involved.

No purchase option, for now

The ombudsman made his move this Tuesday, announcing that he accepts the request from the Tenants' Union and the neighborhood to intervene in a mediation process regarding the building on Sant Agustí Street. However, it remains to be seen whether the owners will accept negotiations, which they have so far rejected. Bondia also mediated last year in the Casa Orsola case, which ended with the City Council announcing its joint purchase of the building with Habitat 3. This time, however, a similar outcome seems unlikely. Speaking to reporters, Joan Ramon Riera pointed out that for the City Council to exercise its right of first refusal—a priority right to acquire properties for sale in the city—the owners must be willing to sell. "To be able to do what we did with Casa Orsola, the owners need to express a willingness to sell. And that's not the case," he said.

New Amsterdam Developer is also the fund that owns the Butterfly blog, another of the buildings that have recently become a symbol of the struggle for housing in Barcelona.