A private individual takes in people who had occupied the former Civil Guard barracks in Sabadell.

TerraceAltruistically and unconditionally, 55-year-old Àlex Puy Ampurdanés has taken in four of the people who had occupied the former Civil Guard barracks in Sabadell. "If life had always been easy for me, perhaps it wouldn't have occurred to me to take anyone in. But with my experience, I couldn't say no," he explains. Àlex also lived on the streets for years, and he says he only managed to get back on his feet because someone helped him.

The association Nadie sin Techo Sabadell (No One Without a Roof Sabadell) has also offered accommodation to two other people. And the Sabadell City Council has moved the two families with young children who had also settled in the former barracks to a hostel. Other people have left on their own after the threat of imminent eviction, following Monday's events. An investigating judge gave the occupants 48 hours to vacate the premisesCurrently, only about fifteen people remain in the former barracks, out of the forty who once occupied the complex, which consists of four public housing buildings abandoned no less than 25 years ago due to a legal dispute between the Ministry of the Interior and the Sabadell City Council. Delighted with their new home

Two days have passed since the sub-Saharan Africans Elvis, Tom, Gilbert, and Erik moved into Àlex's house, and they still don't know why someone offered them accommodation altruistically. And it's not like Àlex is some kind of guardian. He lives in Terrassa with his wife in an old apartment that belonged to his parents. One of those with an extremely long hallway and decades-old light fixtures. But it is quite large: it has four bedrooms, although not all of them have beds. Tom, Gilbert, and Erik are currently sleeping on the floor, on a mat or an inflatable mattress. Elvis is the only one with a bed, and a double one at that. "I gave him the best room because he's sick," Àlex explains. The man, 41 years old and originally from Cameroon, suffered a stroke and has a recognized permanent disability of 66%."At least here we can shower and charge our phones, and the police don't bother us," say the four sub-Saharan Africans, who are delighted with their new home. In the old barracks, there was no water or electricity, and local officers were frequent visitors.

This Friday morning, Erik diligently ran his hands along the floor of the long hallway. "Of course, we help with the housework and we'll also contribute to paying the gas and electricity bills," Elvis assures us. What worries them most right now is regularizing their immigration status as soon as possible and finding work. Tom, 52, originally from Nigeria, is the only one with papers. Elvis has been waiting a year for them to be renewed and no longer knows which office to call to expedite the process. Gilbert and Erik, also Cameroonians, 35 and 36 years old respectively, arrived in Spain a few months ago. For the moment, they earn a living collecting scrap metal.

The four men say that Àlex has given them until April to move into his house. "I know what it's like to sleep on the street in the cold and go days without food," says Àlex, who was addicted to drugs and lived on the streets for about six years until the association Nadie sin Techo Sabadell (No One Without a Roof Sabadell) offered him accommodation, allowing him to turn his life around. That was a decade ago.

Nadie sin Techo

Specifically, Nadie sin Techo Sabadell (No One Without a Roof Sabadell) is the organization that has also offered accommodation to two other people who were in the former Civil Guard barracks: a man who had been requesting their help for some time, and a woman who also had nowhere to live and who had just undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer. Meanwhile, the Sabadell City Council has provided "temporary accommodation" in a hostel in Terrassa to two Peruvian families with young children. Nine people in total. "We are working on a more permanent alternative. They are in Terrassa due to the lack of resources in Sabadell," explained sources from the city council. Desiré Silva, the mother of one of the families, explained by phone that now her children, aged 16, 13, and 5, take almost an hour and a half to get to school by public transport. However, she is grateful: "I thank God that they have given us a roof over our heads." They have been looking for an apartment for over a year and a half without success, even though both she and her husband have jobs. She works in a nail salon, and he in a barbershop. Regarding the people who remain in the old Civil Guard barracks, the City Council states that "the processes are underway to assist them, and action will be taken according to each person's situation." But it has already clarified that "it does not have the resources for everyone." Tino Ferreira, 47, is one of them and complains that neither he nor his companions have been offered accommodation because they are Roma. "We will stay here as long as we can," he says. The eviction from the old barracks has no date set, but it is a matter of days or hours. The big question is what will happen to the site afterward. Will it remain abandoned for years?