A night spent outdoors after the B9 eviction: "There is no plan"

BadalonaMamadou's eyes well up with tears as he says aloud, "There's no plan." It's almost nine in the evening. More than 12 hours have passed since the police began evicting the abandoned B9 high school in Badalona, where until recently some 400 people lived. Now, more than a hundred are gathered in the open area in front of the building, with nowhere else to go. Many didn't sleep last night, and those who did woke up in the early hours, on high alert, knowing they were about to experience something terrible. one of the largest evictions ever carried out in Catalonia

There are only two tents on the entire esplanade, which at most could accommodate three people each. Mayor Xavier García Albiol has already made it clear during the day that he would not spend "a single euro" to provide the evicted residents with a place to sleep. Three people have contacted the Socialist Housing Union of Catalonia to offer them a place in their homes. Workers from the Cepaim Foundation, who are also in the square, have counted only ten people who have found accommodation for tonight. There are no plans for the rest.

A cordon of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) blocks access to the building. No one is attempting to cross it. The area will be monitored throughout the night by the Guardia Urbana (Barcelona's municipal police) and private security, and the operation will continue until the building is demolished. This will happen in the coming days, according to municipal sources. Some people who lived in building B9 still have belongings inside and aren't sure if they'll be able to go back in to collect them. The reason they've been given is that they had the opportunity to leave voluntarily and gather their things before the eviction. They especially miss the bicycles and carts that many of them used for work. In fact, there are several in the square. There's also a bicycle trailer with a handwritten sign that reads, "Looking for a living."

Those who have managed to collect their belongings from the old 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 stuffed to the brim, and shopping bags overflowing with clothes are scattered throughout the square. Some people are putting their things in shopping carts. A group of boys are warming themselves by a fire on the ground, and further on there's an electric heater, but obviously, there's nowhere to plug it in.

"They will not disappear"

"They'll spread out; people know where to make a living more or less efficiently," says a social worker who in recent months has worked mainly in the Joan Miró park settlement in Barcelona And today he spent the day in front of the B9. "No matter how much some might want it, they won't disappear; they'll find a way to survive," adds one of his companions.

On the far side of the square at the B9, two boys who were inside the old high school a few hours ago watch the scene from a distance. Some people sit around the square, but most stand in small groups that come and go. One of the two boys arrived at the B9 two months ago. It was his first destination after emigrating. The other had lived there for a year, half the time he's spent in Spain. For the first 12 months after emigrating from Senegal, he lived in shelters run by organizations, and for the last year, the B9 has been his home. This morning, he chose to stay inside the school until the very last moment. "To hold on." Now, like many others, he doesn't know what he's going to do. He says that he gave a radio interview some time ago, but today he prefers that his name not be published. She's only wearing a sweatshirt to keep warm. "It's cold, isn't it? If it rained like yesterday, it would be a problem."