El Prat airport restricts access tonight to relocate homeless people sleeping there
More than 160 people are living in poverty in the infrastructure
BarcelonaMore than 160 homeless people live at El Prat de Llobregat airport, a figure that has been increasing in recent months. The roof of this large infrastructure is the only one they have found to spend the night under, especially during periods of cold and rain. However, Aena sees this situation as unsustainable and, after several meetings (which have lasted for months), a device will be deployed on Tuesday night to try to relocate these people. The operation is supervised by the Mossos d'Esquadra and a few members of the social services of the Barcelona City Council and El Prat de Llobregat also attended. According to the ARA, it is a pilot plan that is expected to continue on Wednesday.
The device includes a restriction on access to the airport from tonight until four in the morning. Some doors have been closed and there are access controls in others so that only people who have to fly or pick up passengers can enter the infrastructure (not only in the restricted area, but also in the public area). The operation has the participation of some social services from El Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona, since the objective is to attend to these homeless people and offer them an emergency solution. However, municipal funds insist that the device, promoted by Aena, responds more to reasons of "unhealthiness" than of social emergency and that, therefore, it has not been prepared so much in this area.
Sources from El Prat City Council have explained that they have received a notification from Aena and the Mossos d'Esquadra about the action and that the council has a device to assist people in a situation of homelessness in the city. Specifically, a social worker will appear at the facilities to provide support while the operation lasts. "The care of people in this situation at a country infrastructure such as the airport corresponds to the Generalitat, in coordination with local entities," the same sources add. From the Ministry of Social Rights they point out that they are aware of the operation.
They will not be expelled
Sources consulted by the ARA indicate that homeless people who do not want to leave will not be expelled from the infrastructure and that the objective of the device is to be able to offer them a way out so that there are not so many of them. This type of action was already promoted in 2011, although at that time the people who spent the night did not exceed twenty.
In this sense, sources in the know affirm that the restriction of access to the airport will also serve to control the entry of thieves, who also act in the infrastructure at night. In addition, some sources also link this action to the airport due to its proximity to the Mobile World Congress, which begins this weekend and implies an increase in mobility in the main airport of the country.