The Public Prosecutor's Office warns that Badalona failed to fulfill its obligation to provide shelter to those expelled from the B9

BarcelonaThe Public Prosecutor's Office warned that the Badalona City Council failed to fulfill its obligation to provide emergency assistance to the homeless people it evicted from the former B9 high school. Specifically, it lacked a protocol for assisting the homeless through municipal services and also failed to apply the established methodology for such situations, which would have involved offering support to those affected, referring them to available residential resources, and providing follow-up care. In a document dated March 10, the prosecutor warned the Badalona court that authorized the eviction that the city council had not acted in accordance with its orders. When upholding the eviction of the occupants of B9, the judge of the Administrative Court No. 11 of Barcelona specified that, given the vulnerable nature of the situation, it was necessary to take "the measures stipulated in the municipal services' protocol for assisting the homeless and provide them with emergency social assistance."

As a result of this order, Following the eviction, the Public Prosecutor's Office asked the city council to clarify what measures it had taken to protect vulnerable people. who lived in building B9. The City Council's response, as described by the prosecutor, was "a report that essentially states that such a protocol is lacking." The council also pointed out that "they would not be obligated to do so under current legislation, but that they use a methodology for situations involving homelessness, social exclusion, and housing emergencies."

Four steps

This methodology consists of four points: detection and initial intervention, assessment by Social Services and identification of vulnerability, offer of support and referral to care or accommodation resources, and finally, follow-up. After reviewing the Badalona City Council's actions with the people evicted from the B9 building, the Public Prosecutor's Office concludes that the council did not follow its own methodology because it did not offer them support, refer them to resources, or provide any follow-up to the people who were left homeless, first in front of the old high school and then under the C-3 bridge. In fact, just this Tuesday, the council evicted the last group living in squalor under this bridge to carry out a cleanup operation that will prevent them from returning to the area for at least a few days.

In fact, the organization Badalona Acull has long added that there are currently no support resources in Badalona to accommodate homeless people. "There is neither a shelter nor an emergency center, fundamental things in a city of 200,000 inhabitants," they lament.The Can Bofí Vell hostel, which was closed by the Albiol government in 2024It was the epicenter of a series of disturbances in late December, fueled by the mayor himself, as several people evicted from the B9 shelter sought refuge there because they had no other housing options. Finally, the government and the alliance of social service agencies and organizations that assist the homeless and those experiencing housing exclusion were the ones who They relocated the thickness of those affected in temporary shelters to prevent morerisks to their health due to the storm that was affecting Catalonia at the time.