The delay in the rehabilitation of the Besòs River has earned Collboni's government another rebuke.

BarcelonaJaume Collboni's government continues to pay the price of governing alone. In addition to the usual plenary votes highlighting the mayor's isolation, this Wednesday saw a rebuke from the first deputy, Laia Bonet. In this case, the reason was the municipal government's handling of the rehabilitation of the aluminosi-covered Besòs riverbanks. A program that continues to accumulate delays, which have already led to a significant increase in costs and now threatens to jeopardize the Next Generation funds used to finance part of the project.

Dozens of residents in this area have long lived in fear over the state of their homes. Some houses are propped up, and in some cases, residents have even had to be evacuated by firefighters due to the risk of the building collapsing. Now, the possibility of losing European funds that were supposed to be key to moving the renovations forward has prompted residents to speak out again and the opposition to seek accountability from the current municipal government.

The problem is that Next Generation funding for energy efficiency improvements is only available for projects completed by June 30, 2026. A schedule that currently seems impossible to meet in at least six of the ten blocks to which the municipal government committed. "BK_SLT_LNA~ "We're not doing well," summarized Junts councilor Damià Calvet, who criticized the constant accumulation of delays in the monitoring reports presented by Collboni's executive. Faced with this situation, he called for "not to centrifuge responsibilities" and to roll up their sleeves so that the rehabilitation of the Besòs goes ahead. From Barcelona en Comú, the other group that had promoted Bonet's reprimand, councilor Lucía Martín has accused the deputy mayor of not "showing her face" and not meeting with the residents. "The most serious thing of all is the feeling of contempt, abandonment, distrust and anguish that many residents of the Besòs are experiencing," she noted, and asked Bonet that the reprimand serve to make "a 180-degree turn not only in her work but also in her attitude."

Bonet's reprimand has also had the favorable votes of Vox and the PP, although Popular Party councilor Juan Milián unsuccessfully attempted to have Janet Sanz, who was responsible for Urban Planning in the previous term, also reprimanded. The management of previous municipal governments has also been Bonet's line of defense, emphasizing that the situation in Besòs has been going on for a long time and has also apportioned blame among the executives of Junts and Barcelona en Comú. Thus, he denounced that during Xavier Trias's term, the Generalitat abandoned the Besòs agreement to focus on the Canyelles neighborhood, and that during Colau's first term, the City Promotion Plan in the neighborhood resulted "in the renovation of some carpentry and the installation of some air conditioning."

Beyond the PSC, only ERC did not vote in favor of reprimanding Bonet. The Republicans abstained because, in the words of Councilor Eva Baró, what is needed is "to work and find solutions." In this regard, she claimed that the Republican Left has already submitted a non-legislative proposal to Congress to try to save the Next Generation funds and to consider valid projects started before June 30, 2026, and not just those completed before that date.

Neighbors' alert

The committee was also attended by some representatives of the neighborhood's residents. Teresa Pardo, a member of the SOS Besòs platform, was critical of Bonet at the end of the session. "The least we could have done was to fail her, but there should be resignations here," she told reporters, and lamented that the councilor had not had "even the minimum humility to admit the delays."

Pardo questioned the plan the municipal government presented at the beginning of 2024, which stipulated that only 204 apartments in 10 blocks that were already planned for the pilot project approved in 2021 by the previous government would be renovated this term. Based on that plan, the City Council identified 693 apartments spread across 38 buildings that would have "serious" or "very serious" structural damage and would require work during the next term. Still to come are another 354 apartments, spread across 13 residential communities, where "serious" or "very serious" defects were also detected, but not structural ones.

Pardo criticized this forecast and warned that if there is no intervention soon, many blocks of flats may have to be declared derelict. "What will happen to the residents then?" she asked. The member of the SOS Besòs platform went even further, warning that if one day a disaster occurs and "there are deaths in the neighborhood," it will be clear who bears political responsibility.