The magnificent building of the Jussana Tower, on Cardenal Vidal i Barraquer avenue in the Barcelona district of Horta-Guinardó, stands on the land that was occupied by a defense tower in medieval times. However, for some time now this property, converted for nearly 30 years into a municipal facility that provides service to citizen associations, is the least similar to an impregnable fortress. The “acts of intrusion that have been constantly repeated” for approximately a couple of years, as acknowledged by the City Council itself, and the robberies perpetrated inside have forced it to reinforce the security of its facilities to prevent criminal actions from becoming chronic. and uncivil practices that lead the entities and the City Council itself down the street of bitterness.
The building’s current protection systems include an intrusion alarm that sends a warning to a central monitoring station and sends a guard to the Jussana Tower. However, the response time to the incident does not prevent damages and thefts from occurring that the criminals, aware of the defensive deficit of the premises, take advantage of to carry out express robberies. Neighbors in the area have also suffered robberies: the location of the building and the gardens that surround it “encourage impunity for thieves, who are not seen from the outside,” according to the report that justifies the need for the works. .
The previous situation has led Barcelona City Council to put out to tender a works competition for the installation of various protection elements in the hope of putting an end to a problem that other publicly owned buildings have also suffered at certain times. In many cases it has been decided to reinforce the surveillance service by assigning it to security companies that provide guards 24 hours a day. This is not the case of Torre Jussana. Here the solution is more economical and involves installing bars on the north and south entrances of the building, the unprotected windows on the north and south facades and the exit doors on the porches on the east and west facades. In addition, the closure that limits the garden with Cardenal Vidal i Barraquer Avenue, which currently only covers the lower section, will be completed.
The tender budget for these interventions is 47,618.52 euros. The project, which does not contemplate any intervention inside the Jussana Tower, has been agreed with the Heritage area of ??the City Council and the Horta-Guinardó district and respects the structure of the property. The works have a short execution period, 45 days, for the production of the pieces, and another fifteen for their installation. We must remedy it as soon as possible.
The Jussana Tower, in its current configuration, is a late neoclassical building of French influence – it bears a strong resemblance to the Guimard Hotel in Paris – built around 1825 on the remains of a previous construction. It had several uses until 1992 when it was acquired by Barcelona City Council from its last owners. The first offices of the Cultural Olympiad were located there and in 1995 it became home to the municipal agency for services to associations of Barcelona. In 2008 it became a center managed jointly by the City Council itself and the Consell d’Associacions de Barcelona (CAB).
