The forgotten ones of the shacks of Montcada i Reixac: "Everything remains the same"

Montcada i ReixacIt has been more than four years since the death of Munir and Jéssica in the shantytown of Montcada i Reixac. In this time, however, the situation of the settlement has not changed at all and its inhabitants continue to live in poverty between the Besòs river and the BV-5001 road, invisible to the administrations despite the tragedy. That day in January 2022 it was cold, the couple lit a fire to warm themselves and died of asphyxiation inside their makeshift home, leaving three children orphaned. The arrival of a new summer does not improve the neighbors' outlook, as with the rising temperatures they have to seek refuge outside the shack—built with sheet metal or materials not very resistant—when the sun beats down the hardest and makes the air inside unbreathable. This is the case of a man resting in the shade without a shirt. He does not want to give his name, nor have his photograph taken and be interviewed, he is tired of reporting the situation and angry about the lack of help they have received: "They died right next door and everything remains the same; I don't want to talk to you because it will be useless".

He knew Munir very well, referring to him as little cousin, and Jéssica, whom he remembers as the gypsy girlcreation of a technical commission for the diagnosisIn April 2022, four months after the fatal accident, the Generalitat promoted the creation of a technical commission for the diagnosis of shantytowns on the banks of the Besòs River, which with a budget of 100,000 euros and the participation of the Montcada i Reixac City Council and the Besòs Consortium, aimed to find an alternative for the residents, clean up the strip occupied by the shacks, and environmentally recover the area. Of the planned, only the census was completed, which found that 142 people lived there permanently, 25 of whom were minors. The photograph at the time showed 420 shacks, some of which were used as storage or weekend homes. Since then, almost nothing else has been done, and sources from the City Council (now governed by the PSC instead of Comuns) admit that the little work done has become outdated, so if the study is ever resumed, a second census would need to be done. Counting is difficult due to the high mobility of residents, who come and go. From the Generalitat Delegation in Barcelona, the administration that directs the plan, they respond to this newspaper: "For the moment there is no news to communicate" about new actions.

The settlement, which occupies a strip of about two kilometers in length, began to form in the 70s as a place for recreation and horticulture, but the rising rents and the lack of social housing have made it the last alternative for all the people who live there in precarious conditions. L'ARA has toured the settlement to understand the reality of its inhabitants, but like this neighbor from Munir and Jéssica, they have all declined interviews and photographs. However, some of them share the discontent and exhaustion after years of living in the shacks. The situation has become entrenched, and none of the administrations consulted have alternatives for the hundreds of people who live there.

Flood risk and power outages

The objective of the City Council four years ago was, in addition to the census, to study the environmental and safety risks present in the settlement in order to demolish all the shacks. The Besòs plan prohibits any activity other than agriculture from being established there, even though more and more people live there. Sources consulted by ARA explain that they have detected a new settlement on the left bank, on the other side of the BV-5001, the road to La Roca, and both those who live in the shacks and those who have a garden explain that the neighborhood continues to grow. However, in the face of flood risk, there is a protocol in place to alert and evacuate residents: with a pre-recorded message, the local police patrol the area warning of the risk, and the municipal pavilion has been designated as a gathering point.

This June, an informative meeting is scheduled at the Montcada i Reixac City Council regarding urban planning, but consulted sources explain that "no concrete immediate action on this problem" will be discussed. Meanwhile, the shack neighborhood grows year after year, according to a neighbor close to the settlement, who complains that power outages are constant because many of these people have tapped into the electricity. One of the inhabitants of the settlement assures that he has been registered for years on the road from Santa Coloma de Gramenet to La Roca del Vallès, but he wants to make it clear that "this is not a house".