Barcelona City Council takes the first step toward evacuating the Vallcarca settlement.

BarcelonaBarcelona City Council has taken the first step toward evicting the Vallcarca shack settlement. First Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet explained this Tuesday that the people living in the settlement and those living in three occupied municipal properties nearby have already been notified that they cannot continue living in substandard housing. This is the first step in an administrative eviction process that Bonet admitted will be lengthy and could last "months."

Early Tuesday morning, City Council technicians appeared at the site under the viaduct to notify the people there that the process had begun to declare the shacks where they sleep as substandard housing. From this point on, a period of objections begins before it can be officially certified that the space does not meet the minimum requirements for habitability and, therefore, must be vacated.

In the case of the three municipally owned properties where people live and which are also considered substandard housing, the process is somewhat different. The technicians have simply certified that they are currently occupied so that they can begin the official recovery. The situation of other occupied buildings in the area affected by urban planning, but where substandard housing has not been detected, will be addressed later.

According to the latest census conducted by social services, there are currently 17 people spending the night on the site and 13 on the three municipal properties. Of these, six are minors. Two live in the shanty town, and four in two of the occupied premises. Beyond the number of people sleeping there, the settlement was very crowded because it had become a space where scrap metal accumulates. A phenomenon that the City Council considers a risk factor both due to the overcrowding of materials and their handling.

Speaking to reporters, Bonet emphasized that with this step, the City Council is trying to resolve a situation that "has been going on for too long" and posed "a risk" to the people living there. "We cannot allow people to live normally with substandard housing," said the councilor, who admitted that the situation is "complex and delicate."

Division in the neighborhood

The Commissioner for Social Action, Sonia Fuertes, explained that the City Council's social services have been supporting the people living in these settlements since 2019 and will continue to do so in the coming months. However, neither she nor Bonet have gone into detail about what kind of solutions will be offered to the residents of the Vallcarca settlement.

"They told us they were police officers and that they had some papers we had to sign. And that we now have 10 days to file an appeal. They also haven't told us about alternatives or anything," explains Florina Drosu, one of the mothers spending the night at the site. "It doesn't look like they'll be giving out any very innovative news in terms of decent solutions for the residents currently living in the settlement," explains Aran, one of the spokespersons for the Som Barri neighborhood movement, which helps people living on the site. "Indeed, this morning they received notification with the inspection's findings, which states that the settlement is slum housing and that they have 10 days to present their objections before they can proceed with the eviction," the members of Som Barri confirm.

This move has been viewed unevenly in the neighborhood, which is experiencing the situation in the settlement with strong divisions. There is also a group of residents, who prefer to remain anonymous, who view the beginning of this process to recover the site "positively." In statements to ARA, one of them, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, explains that the eviction is a "natural" process. "Sooner or later, it had to happen. And, personally, I would have preferred it to happen sooner," he explains, emphasizing that these people "have been living in slum housing for about 10 years" and that the settlement had become "the epicenter of the problems in the neighborhood." "I hope it's the first step toward unblocking a situation that has hindered the social and urban development of Vallcarca until now," he argues. Residents opposed to the settlement trust that "the City Council will find the mechanisms and social sensitivity to monitor and support the situation of these vulnerable people."

A pending urban development plan

Evicting the Vallcarca settlement is a necessary step for the City Council to be able to move forward with the urban transformation plan for Vallcarca, approved in 2002, more than 20 years ago. This renovation should ultimately involve the construction of around 520 apartments, 40% of which will be social housing, as well as the construction of a new stormwater tank and a service area, and the improvement of Vallcarca's central park.

In fact, the council soon plans to begin moving the basketball court to the area above the viaduct and also reactivate the procedures to be able to move forward with a project that has been pending for more than 20 years: the Vallcarca green promenade, which is to reach Vall de la Fusta from 8th Street to 9th Street.