The Public Prosecutor's Office is asking the Government to sanction the company that rented substandard housing in Badalona.

BarcelonaThe Public Prosecutor's Office has asked the Catalan government to sanction the company that managed the rental of substandard housing built on the site of a former shop and warehouse in Badalona. These were 18 units of approximately 15 square meters each, located on a basement level, lacking ventilation and with faulty electrical wiring that endangered the families living there, who paid between 350 and 650 euros per month. Between 25 and 30 people lived there, including children. The Badalona City Council closed these substandard dwellings at the end of October last year, and at that time the mayor, Xavier García Albiol, assured that the council would be "implacable" with the owner and the real estate agency that managed the rentals and announced administrative fines that could reach €1,000. However, the Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that no legal action was taken against the company that had allowed the rentals, explained prosecutor Paloma Pelegrín, who heads the Barcelona district's consumer rights service, during a meeting with journalists this week. The Public Prosecutor's Office's first move was to send its findings to the Catalan Consumer Agency, but the agency responded that the case was not under its jurisdiction, but rather that of the Housing Department. The Public Prosecutor's Office made contact two weeks ago because it believes it is "the body that should carry out the inspection and sanctioning" and is awaiting the administration's actions, Pelegrín added.

Construction in secret

The premises in question are located at number 153 on San Juan de la Cruz Street, in the San Cristo neighborhood of Badalona, ​​and the owner owns several properties in the city. The space had been irregularly divided into small rooms, the work having been done clandestinely, and each room was rented out for between 350 and 650 euros per month, depending on its size and capacity. When it was shut down, the Badalona City Council explained that the space did not comply with any regulations, including fire safety standards. The local police discovered it following a tip from a neighbor who suspected that unauthorized work had been carried out to divide the space.