The FP student who slept under a bridge: "On Saturday he must leave his room"

Barcelona"When he is assigned a computer, he says he is afraid of being robbed because he lives on the street," explains Víctor Langreo, a vocational training teacher at the Institut Llobregat in L'Hospitalet. He is talking about Mohammed, 22, one of his students. "He had been living under a bridge for a week," Langreo continues. Despite his difficult situation, in class he was "studious" and "correct" and learned quickly. He arrived in Catalonia in 2022 from Morocco. He managed to get to Turkey alone, and from what he explained to the teachers, he made the journey "on foot" to Catalonia. He has lived in a caravan, on the street... A few weeks ago, the teachers learned about his harsh reality and opened a fund to pay for the room in which he now sleeps. But in five days he must leave it and will be on the street again.

Langreo explains that there has been no shortage of solidarity: from neighbours who have offered their rooms to donations, from the teachers themselves and from other people who have heard about his case, which TV3 made public on Friday. However, the teacher complains that there has been no official communication from the administration to give Mohammed a way out. He is registered in Barcelona and, according to sources at the centre, he had a visit with the social services of the Catalan capital's council in March, which was finally brought forward this Tuesday. The teachers will not leave him on the street and say that they will continue paying, if necessary, for a room. However, they criticise the fact that there is no official protocol in the educational field to deal with these cases.

Sources from Barcelona City Council indicate that the young man was cared for by the city's social services from his arrival until July 2024, when he managed to find work and find accommodation in Hospitalet, after successfully participating in the Hogar Sí organisation's Housing Rights project. At the beginning of January, however, he contacted the city council again because his situation had worsened and he had no place to sleep. The council described his care as "priority", according to municipal sources. Now the City Council confirms the appointment for this Tuesday to assess his situation. "The City Council is working to offer Mohammed a comprehensive solution so that he can continue not only with his training process, but also develop a personal and autonomous life process," says the council.

Management

Langreo, a teacher at the centre, also claims that he contacted the Hospitalet Town Hall through the citizens' office. The council says that they assessed the young man's case from three different departments and that the first day they already responded to the request, although from the beginning they detected that he was registered in Barcelona. However, they say that he was offered an interview with social services and a temporary place to sleep, although they knew that everything was already being handled by social services in Barcelona. They also say that they have been in contact with the director of the institute during all this time.

However, Langreo regrets that it has not always been easy to contact Mohammed, since he slept on the street. And he also remembers that it must be him, who is already of age, who decides what he thinks is the best way to get ahead. The institute already has some paid internships prepared and, according to the teacher, it would be a "victory" if he had managed to normalise his situation in the summer.

Sources from the Department of Education also point out that they are aware of Mohammed's situation and that they have repeatedly contacted the social services in Hospitalet to monitor his situation.