The neighborhood fight against luxury apartments in a historic garden in Sarrià is revived.

BarcelonaThe fight to preserve the garden of one of the last historic farmhouses in Sarrià is still ongoing. As the garden is about to turn one year old, judgment Following the ruling of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), which ruled in favor of the residents and annulled the municipal planning approved in 2020, which allowed for the construction of luxury apartments in the garden of the Can Raventós farmhouse, the residents mobilized again. They did so alerted by the negotiations between the City Council and the developer Corp, who warn that they may lose part of this green space in the neighborhood.

Following the TSJC ruling, the council and the developer—who has appealed the case to the Supreme Court—began talks to try to resolve the impasse the court's verdict had placed them in. This led to a preliminary agreement under which the City Council would acquire part of the garden and the farmhouse to convert it into a facility, but which would allow Corp to continue building in the Can Raventós garden. However, the constructed area was reduced to 1,660 square meters of uncovered housing, half of what was planned in the original planning.

In return for the loss of roof space at this point, the City Council would compensate the developer with three additional plots: one on Monestir Street, now slated for facilities—1,400 square meters of roof space—and two on Newton Street, each with 500 square meters of roof space. All of this represents an urban planning puzzle in an attempt to resolve a complex dispute.

The proposal, however, does not satisfy the residents, who are demanding that the City Council preserve 100% of the property and prevent the construction of apartments within the garden. Natalia Botinas, of the Defendemos Can Raventós platform, has warned the municipal government that "it is difficult to understand that, after a ruling annulling an irregular planning project, the City Council would validate a soft version of the same error," and has called on opposition groups to use all the tools at their disposal to prevent the construction of apartments.

Following recent talks with the City Council, the platform denounces the municipal government's lack of willingness to modify this preliminary agreement. Hence, as a tool of pressure, residents have put forward a new proposal seeking to compensate Corp., but without building a single apartment within the garden—which would remain 100% public—and without the neighborhood losing square meters of amenities or giving up on building subsidized housing.

To square the circle, then, Defendemos Can Raventós is demanding an agreement less favorable to Corp., which could build on the three plots proposed by the City Council, but not on the part of the garden—the one closest to Bonaplata Street—which the council is now offering. In this area, and to compensate for the loss of the Monestir Street site's status as a facility plot, residents propose also classifying this section as an amenity and incorporating a "lightweight public annex integrated into the garden."

A piece that, along with the farmhouse, should house the Sarrià House of Popular Culture, a facility that would serve the numerous organizations in the neighborhood that have long been demanding a "dignified" space in which to carry out their activities.

The 30% reserve

The City Council is currently refusing to provide details of the preliminary agreement. Municipal sources explain that they are in talks with the Can Raventós owners, residents, and municipal groups to find a consensus solution that "allows the farmhouse to be preserved as an amenity, guarantees neighborhood access to the surrounding garden, and adds new housing, some of it protected, while ensuring that all remain in the same district."

This aspect also worries residents, who fear that the 30% of protected housing that would affect the Monasterio site—those in Newton are exempt because the built roof will be less than 500 square meters in both cases—will not be built in Sarrià but in another neighborhood in the district. They assert that there are municipal plots available in the neighborhood where these homes could be built.