The squatting of the Sant Feliu de Llobregat station carried out by an activist to save the historic building from collapse has already been reported to the Mossos d’Esquadra. This is the first legal procedure to continue with the dismantling of the building erected in 1854, which is part of the long-awaited works to bury the train tracks in the capital of Baix Llobregat. While in the rest of the city the works continue, in the emblematic enclave they have stopped.
Sources from Adif, owner of the building and the organization that has filed the complaint with the Mossos d’Esquadra, detail that the accusation is for “invasion of work”. These same sources from the body under the Ministry of Transport added in statements to La Vanguardia that work on the station started at the beginning of the month.
Through a statement, the Sant Feliu de Llobregat City Council has recognized the “sentimental value of the old station”, which is one of the oldest in Spain. But at the same time he has asked that the “controlled disassembly can follow the planned work plan.”
According to the president of the area of ??Territory, Ecological Transition and Planning of the Consistory, Mònica Lafuente, the judge has admitted to processing the complaint presented by Adif. Through Ràdio Sant Feliu, Lafuente highlighted “the importance of fulfilling the terms marked in the works calendar”.
From the City Council it is expected that the works in the old station will be reprimanded “as soon as possible”. However, Lafuente has also said that the “claims are legitimate” in relation to the person who initiated the squatting, an activist in favor of heritage conservation.
“I intend to stay here until a court order forces me to leave. Then I will leave immediately, but for now, this is my home,” Andrea J. Messeguer, the activist who now lives in the station, told this newspaper.
Before the start of the burial works, the citizens of Sant Feliu de Llobregat voted in a consultation in which they decided whether to build a replica of the station or to preserve some heritage elements. The second option won, although the Salvem l’Estació platform -which has carried out mobilizations so that the building is not destroyed for years- considered that the consultation questions were not appropriate and denounced that the conservation of the current building was left out , nor was he asked about his full transfer.
Finally, it is expected that the station will become part of the history of Sant Feliu de Llobregat although, the Consistory recalled, care will be taken of “documentary preservation, through the architectural elements of the original building, the selection of elements recoverables and the enumeration and cataloging of the elements of patrimonial and sentimental interest”. All these objects will be guarded while waiting for “enabling a museum space in the future underground station.”
Meanwhile, the activist in favor of heritage conservation who lives in the station is receiving the solidarity of some neighbors, who, for example, have brought him furniture. In fact, he has reported that there are people willing to spend nights with him to prevent him from being alone.
