Those evicted from B9 are being evicted again: "Those who have gone out to work will have nothing when they return"

BadalonaDining chairs, mattresses of all sizes, old televisions, blankets, and clothes. All gone. In just over two hours, what had been going on for the last three months was home The area where people were evicted from the former Institut B9 has been completely emptied. The encampment, where dozens of people had gathered on Tuesday morning, was by midday back to being just a sidewalk under the C-31 bridge, with gleaming white bike lane lines and cobblestones shiny with cleaning product. "They told us we were leaving to clean it up, but I don't think we can come back," a young man repeated as he crossed the police tape with a rickety shopping cart in one hand and a suitcase overflowing with people in the other.

The Badalona City Council has evicted the encampment, at least temporarily. where hundreds of people have taken shelter this winter at the end of Almería Avenue in the city. Municipal sources consulted by ARA confirm that it is a cleaning operation involving municipal services, local police officers, and social services technicians. They also explain that the effects of the cleaning products will prevent him from being in the area "for a few days."

When some of the people who have been helping those who have been spending the night under the Badalona bridge for months asked the police officers on duty if they had a court order to remove those evicted from the B9 settlement, the answer was direct: "We're not here to debate: the local administrative authority has authorized the eviction for public health reasons." Similarly, the City Council maintains that municipal technicians have detected "serious health problems, with the resulting complaints from residents" in this section under the C-31 highway. The conversation takes place with dozens of cleaning vans coming and going, loaded with mattresses, pallets, and even a sofa in the background. "And when can they return?" insist those trying to represent those evicted from the settlement. "We don't know, we'll be using a cleaning product that could be toxic..." stammers the officer. "They can take whatever they want," he adds calmly.

A woman in her fifties, carrying a garbage bag full of blankets, says they've been told that anything they don't take "will go in the trash." "Those who have gone out to work will have nothing when they return," the woman laments. In response, the police explain that all the items being taken from the settlement "will be kept at their recycling center and people can go and pick them up."

Obedience and resignation

Although the space was completely empty by midday, the process was slow. For three hours, the inhabitants of the settlement, one by one, slowly and resignedly removed their belongings, without making a sound or resisting. Lacking anywhere else to go, they dispersed among the three small plazas next to the C-31 bridge. They placed their things in small piles and stacked suitcases and backpacks on top of mattresses. Almost all of them tried to fold the plastic sheeting and tarpaulins that had protected them from the rain in recent months, which had been a weekly occurrence so far this year. Once all their belongings were piled up, they sat on the ground, on top of a mattress or with their legs crossed on the canvas of a dismantled tent. They waited for the sun to rise while they watched their loved ones... neighbors They keep repeating the same choreography, dragging everything they have along.

Social organizations estimate that the encampment currently consisted of about thirty people, who "will be dispersed throughout the surrounding area tonight." So far, the city council has not announced any plans to offer alternative housing for the people who were living under the C-31 bridge. In fact, after the eviction of the B9 housing complex in November, the City Council also failed to provide any alternative housing for those evicted from the former high school, where up to 400 people had lived. The Catalan government and social organizations sought options to house those affected; however, some ended up gathering under the bridge. Of the people sleeping under the C-31 bridge, about twenty, according to social organizations, came from the B9 complex. They do not rule out the possibility that some of these people had been in temporary accommodations and decided to return to Badalona. At the beginning of the year, the city council stated that no one from the B9 complex remained in that encampment. They don't rule out the possibility that some have returned, but they maintain that the majority are homeless people who were sleeping in other parts of Badalona.