The evictees of the former B9 Institute of Badalona camped under exit 210 of the C-31 of Badalona, in the heart of the Sant Roc neighborhood, where they spent the night after the Urban Guard prevented them on Friday from setting up shops in the square in front of the building.
In statements to RAC1, the mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, announced that he would dismantle the stores. “Camping is not allowed in our town,” he said. He added that there would be a “left hand” because of the rain, but that he did not want the situation to “get longer with time”.
On Friday, the social entities supporting the group looked for alternative locations due to the threat of rain and concluded that this was the most suitable place to shelter them.
In this place, under the highway, dozens of tents are set up, where the expellees took refuge for the night and continue this Saturday morning, sheltered from the rain. After the expulsion from the former B9 institute this Wednesday early in the morning, this is the third night that the evictees have spent outside.
“We are working to return to normality in the neighborhood and the regulations do not authorize camping in town,” said Albiol, who responded directly to criticism of “institutional racism” and lack of support for those expelled from B9. “What the municipality should do is provide housing or pay a pension to 400 people who were illegally occupying a property? Is that it?” the mayor of Badalona wondered aloud.
Criticism of UN rapporteurs: “This must be a joke”
“And if 400 more arrive, we have to do it too? Those who take these steps are actually using these people,” said Albiol, who said that “absolutely not everyone can be accommodated.” “Material and economic resources are limited and do not stretch like chewing gum,” underlined the mayor of Badalona, who recalled that the 400 migrants “illegally” occupied the former B9 institute.
At the same time, Albiol criticized the two UN rapporteurs who condemned the expulsion of the B9 and warned that it could constitute a “serious violation” of human rights. “It must be a joke. To begin with, they did not ask the opinion of the town hall of Badalona, even less of its mayor,” lamented the councilor.
“And secondly, is the illegal occupation a crime and should I accept it? As a matter of human rights? People who have been making life impossible for the residents of the neighborhood for two years?” Albiol questioned several times, specifying that around 30 to 40 people from B9 were controlled and taken care of by Badalona social services.
“And on the day of the eviction, there was a unit with ten social workers inside to serve all the people. Only about fifty came,” said Albiol, who insisted that the space of the former B9 institute is needed to build a police station between the neighborhoods of Sant Roc and El Remei. “This is an area with a problem of social breakdown, with many houses lit. We must find a solution,” concluded the mayor of Badalona.
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