Xavier Garcia Albiol asked a Mossos patrol to leave a neighborhood conflict with occupants at number 13 of Calle Ros y Güell, in the Bonavista neighborhood of Badalona (North Barcelona), after the agents calmed down the spirits between members of both parties.
The events occurred on April 26 at half past eight at night, and the police patrol had gone to the place due to cross complaints between occupants and neighbors. Upon arrival, there was the PP candidate for mayor and a councilor who held a meeting in the street with the residents of the farm, who were opposed to the occupation. In statements to ACN, Albiol explained that at no time did he pose as an authority to make the police march, and stated that the patrol left once their work was done.
This was the second visit that Albiol made to the building, and he plans to make another one this Thursday given the persistence of the conflict. As he explained to ACN, when he arrived the neighbors were on the street and there was an atmosphere of nervousness, because a neighbor claimed that one of her squatters – a family with children – had threatened him. A few minutes after the PP candidate arrived, the alleged author of the threats left the building, and an argument began between the two women, which, according to Albiol, did not go any further.
Precisely, this neighbor called the Mossos to report the alleged threats, and the patrol went to the place to also attend to a cross complaint from the occupants according to which the neighbors had cut off the water in the apartment where they are staying.
Albiol explains that when the Mossos arrived there was a second confrontation between neighbors and occupants that the agents managed, and he assures that, after about ten minutes, when the atmosphere calmed down, he himself told the agents that they could leave now, that he he stayed to continue with the meeting he had with the neighbors.
The Mossos patrol indicates in the report of the facts, to which the ACN has had access, that when they arrived at the place, Albiol and a councilor told them that they would leave, that they were already in charge. It is literally written that “the mayor of Badalona and a councilor” were in the place, which for the PP candidate is a “transcription error.” In this sense, he assures that he did not introduce himself or introduce himself to the mossos, who came directly to greet him. “Neither in Badalona, ​​nor in Catalonia nor in Spain is there anyone who does not know what position I have”, he affirms, to ensure that at no time did he present himself as an authority.
In the report, the Mossos specify that the agents mediated the conflict, that they verified that there were occupied floors on the blog and that the case has already been prosecuted. They also indicate that the occupants had manipulated the electricity meters to have electricity and that the facility “is in very dangerous conditions.”
Albiol later posted a video critical of the consistory’s actions on the case on social networks. The municipal government has denounced the “regrettable” behavior of the popular candidate, “who did not let the Mossos d’Esquadra work to prioritize a campaign video and take advantage of a neighborhood unrest.”
