A month sleeping under the C-31 bridge: "Our world is empty"

Badalona“I’ve spoken to many journalists to try to change this situation. They’re gone now, but I’m still here. So no, I don’t want to talk, and I don’t want my picture taken,” says a weary man living in a tent under the C-31 bridge. Like him, many are fed up with denouncing the conditions they’ve been living in since being evicted from the abandoned B9 high school in Badalona a month ago. In the last 30 days, moreover, They have been especially cold and rainyThis has contributed to the strain on the dozens of people still living in the settlement, who are increasingly desperate. "Nobody is doing well in these conditions, it's very difficult. We're suffering physically, emotionally, and psychologically," explains a resigned Mamadou, who does agree to speak with ARA.

He speaks perfect Catalan. In fact, he says he's been studying it for years, that he started before leaving Senegal because he had already planned to pursue a better life in Catalonia. But reality is light years away from the expectations he had when he left his country. "I try not to lose heart, but it's complicated. We have no papers, no work, no roof over our heads. Our world is empty," laments Mamadou, who lived in B9 for two years before the city council, under the popular mayor Xavier García Albiol, evicted him. Although They have offered him temporary shelter.Demba admits that he preferred not to accept the offer because he didn't want to leave Badalona, ​​as he has a job and friends there and didn't want to leave everything behind only to find himself back on the street a few weeks later.

Demba is also from Senegal and likewise didn't want to leave the city for temporary accommodation because he has a job he doesn't want to lose: "I want to live in an apartment, be able to go to work, and sleep in a bed." Before arriving at the B9 shelter, he had a rented room on Gran Vía in Barcelona, ​​but he was evicted because the person collecting the rent wasn't paying the owner, he says. When asked about this last month living on the streets, he initially explains that he's coping by making handkerchiefs and sleeves, but then he downplays the situation and jokes. "I'm very strong because I've eaten a lot of spicy food," he says, forcing a smile. However, he maintains that there are other people living under the C-31 bridge who are in very bad shape, using drugs to escape reality, and that fewer and fewer people are leaving.

Sources from the Badalona City Council explained to ARA that social services have compiled a list of those affected and concluded that there are currently 59 people in the settlement, although only eight are being evicted from the B9 building. "Compiling the list has been complex, as the number of people present varies depending on the time of day and the day of the week," they stated, adding that there are now people from other municipalities, such as Molins de Rei, Vic, and Manresa, who have no connection whatsoever with the abandoned school. "This situation is due to a 'pull factor' resulting from some public statements made to the media," they asserted. For the Badalona council, the C-31 settlement should be considered a "normal case, separate from the B9." "Municipal social services will monitor the affected individuals and try to find the best possible solution for each case," they concluded.

Mental health problems and addictions

The volunteers who have been helping those evicted from B9 every day for the past month –Christmas holidays includedThey make the same diagnosis as Demba. "Those who are still here are mostly people with mental health conditions and addictions. Living together is getting worse and worse; there are more fights, they're more confrontational," explain sources from an organization that fights social exclusion in the city, who insist that the conditions they live in exacerbate their distress. Furthermore, some of the people now in the settlement weren't living in B9 when they were evicted; they were already sleeping on the streets and came because of the aid that has arrived in the last month in the form of food, clothing, and tents to protect themselves from the cold. Last weekend, for example, there was a fight over food, and the volunteers have decided they will no longer cook to try to reduce the tension. Mouhamed Seck, who lives in a tent with his dog Naomi, complains that he can't sleep at night; there's a lot of commotion, people drink and shout. "I'm doing very badly, I have many problems, and I'm very cold," he says. He says he's in good spirits, but he says it listlessly, his gaze distant. He barely speaks Spanish, and his friend Youssoupha, who has managed to leave the bridge, translates for him. Every day he visits friends who haven't been as lucky as him and are still sleeping rough. This is precisely one of the arguments Mouhamed uses for not leaving Badalona: he doesn't want to be separated from his family and says that if they are evicted, they will go somewhere else, although he doesn't know where.

"People with mental illnesses need the support of their loved ones," a volunteer maintains, justifying why some people don't want to leave the settlement. Mental health organizations have long been calling for support for all those evicted from B9, but especially for those who still have no alternative and continue to sleep rough. This week, a specific network has been established to address the emotional distress and psychological problems of these individuals. This network involves various social and healthcare professionals who will coordinate with the staff at the Sant Roc primary care center, who were already providing them with care when they lived in the B9 building. Since their eviction, staff from the center have visited the area under the C-31 bridge almost daily to offer healthcare.

Anxiety and depression

"We've detected many cases of anxiety, depression, and increased anger. Now there are fights, which didn't happen before," says German Portela, director of the Sant Roc primary care team. These are people who often fall outside the mental health care system, he says, which is why they've implemented this specific program to diagnose and treat more people. So far, they've identified nine people with mental health problems and addictions, but it's just "the tip of the iceberg," and "many more resources" are needed to meet their needs, Portela explains. Mental health experts say that "people who have suffered forced evictions, institutional violence, and racist attacks," like those in B9, can present symptoms of intense anxiety, chronic fatigue, profound sadness, and reactions associated with post-traumatic stress, among others. Portela confirms that they have found people with symptoms that would fit these diagnoses. Infections, respiratory illnesses, headaches, and even a case of a young man who had to have a finger amputated after injuring it while collecting scrap metal. Sleeping in these conditions, the finger became infected, and nothing could be done to treat it.

Portela insists that efforts must be intensified to care for these people, whose physical and mental health has deteriorated in the last month. Meanwhile, Demba, Mamadou, Mouhamed, and so many others who are already fed up with dealing with the media will remain under the C-31 bridge, waiting for someone to offer them an alternative or for them to be evicted again. As was the case when they lived in the B9, they are clear that the second option will not solve the problem: "If they kick us out of here, we'll go somewhere else."