"I can only go to the bench across the street": Barcelona's Parc Joan Miró settlement evicted
At this point in the Eixample, around fifty homeless people were living in misery.
BarcelonaThey both left the same place: Morocco. Abdunur, 23, boarded a small boat and traveled across the Strait of Gibraltar. A journey he doesn't want to remember or describe. Marwan, 29, bought a plane ticket to Turkey. And from there, he began walking. A journey on foot that lasted months until they reached Barcelona, a city where they envisioned a better future, where they hoped to "find work," but which has led them to live in tents in Parc Joan Miró. This Tuesday morning, before the sun had risen, police lights woke them up. The officers asked them to gather all their belongings and leave. "Where will I go? To the bench across the street, or to another park," says Abdunur, who explains that he still has eight months to wait before he can access a hostel bed.
Like him, around fifty people have uprooted themselves and abandoned what had been their home for weeks. Or months. Abdunur has been living in this settlement at the foot of the Joan Miró Library for a year now, taking advantage of some porches and an empty pond. Marwan has been there for a couple of months. The Barcelona Urban Police, in collaboration with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), began their eviction this Tuesday morning. Last week, Barcelona City Council had already warned them. Sources from organizations that help these fifty homeless people explain that on Monday night, knowing they would be evicted the next day, they went to the settlement and safely moved an 18-month-old child, a 15-year-old boy, and their family, who were eking out a living in this part of the city.
"I just want to know if I can store my things somewhere," Abdunur says. He's stored his entire life in a wheelbarrow, the same one he uses to move the scrap metal that earns him some money. Abdul only carries a small backpack. "I have nothing else," he laments. Two weeks ago, he left Italy after not finding the new life he was looking for when he left his home country, Niger. He has an appointment with social services in a month. Most of the homeless people in this settlement are people of African origin, young men who work in scrap metal, and who are now looking for a new place to sleep. Some talk about Montjuïc. Others talk about the same park from which they were evicted on Tuesday.
Political debate
This settlement has been at the center of political and neighborhood debate in recent years. Two weeks ago, at a plenary session of the Eixample district, the Junts (Junts) and the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) groups, which govern the Catalan city, agreed on a text requesting a mechanism to resolve this situation. The mechanism has existed for years, and the two groups had agreed on the text, which called for solutions as soon as possible. The mechanism was not long in coming.
Neighborhood associations, such as those in Eixample Izquierdo and Eixample Acull, didn't complain about their behavior. Rather, they demanded solutions so they could have a toilet or a place to shower. Some of them have library cards and go in to use the restroom, but also to read. In fact, they started a reading club. Abdunur teaches Catalan and Spanish classes and plays soccer once a week on a field in Montjuïc. In fact, just two weeks ago, for the neighborhood's festival, the neighborhood associations held a soccer tournament in the same park, and five teams came from the settlement. Not all of them played, but everyone was able to shower in the locker room. Now these residents regret that the solution was to evict them, without looking at other alternatives. The Guardia Urbana officers ended up making a list of their belongings, with photographs, and will store them in a warehouse at the Mercat de Sant Antoni, where they can be collected.
Alternatives
The majority of the residents are single men who use the Immigrant, Emigrant, and Refugee Assistance Service (SAIER). According to sources consulted by ARA, social services are coordinating with SAIER to assist them. The associations requested that one of the Fira pavilions be opened to provide shelter, but they add that, for now, the City Council has denied this request. Barcelona's Deputy Mayor for Security, Albert Batlle, stated at noon this Tuesday that the City Council will not allow these settlements to "consolidate" and will continue working to prevent "invasive and abusive occupation of public space."
In this regard, he stated that the municipal action aims to "guarantee the proper functioning of the library and allow for the restoration of normal use." For her part, the director of CUESB, Maribel del Moral, explained that they have assisted around twenty people and provided more personalized attention to two people referred to the SAIER (National Council for the Protection of the Homeless), and a third to the Orientation and Social Assistance Service for the Homeless.
The ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, also focused on the situation of this park. Specifically, she asked the municipal government for measures to ensure that Parc Joan Miró can once again fulfill its social and environmental function "in conditions of dignity and safety." The ombudsman had received complaints about the state of occupation and conservation of this space. Some were from residents expressing their discontent over the loss of green spaces, the lack of general maintenance of the park, and the prolonged occupation of part of the space by the Fire Station, construction work on the L8 line of the Catalan Railways (Catalan Railways), and work on the groundwater network. The complaints also included criticism of the plight of those living in the park "in inadequate conditions."