El Besòs i el Maresme is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Barcelona and requires urgent improvements to its homes. Many of the nearly 5,000 that it has suffer from serious pathologies that have forced them to be shored up or to put up nets to protect people from landslides. Neighbors have been waiting for years for the promised plan to clean up their homes to be implemented, but so far it has only taken small, testimonial steps. Meanwhile, the deterioration continues.
The City Council has completed the inspection of a fifth of the homes in the neighborhood, 1,008 from 45 communities, which are a representative sample since they follow the same residential estate pattern from the 50s and 60s of the 20th century. The next step is to rehabilitate those that are in the worst condition, 897 of 48 buildings, according to the report that has been prepared. The councilor of Sant Martí, David Escudé, reported this Friday that of these, 204 belonging to the ten blocks of the pilot test of the plan, will be addressed in the current mandate, until 2027, with an investment of 11.7 million euros, of which 10 million will be for the works.
The program covers 32.6 hectares, delimited by Llull, Rambla Prim, Bernat Metge and Sant Adrià de Besòs. It includes 86 blocks with 203 communities and 4,598 homes. To set priorities, the severity of the deficiencies has been taken into account.
To the ten blocks mentioned above – the first, the one at Messina Street, 11, with twelve homes, is already ready – those with priority 1 will be added in the next mandate (2027-2031). There are 38 properties with 693 homes still without cost estimate. The report adds 354 of 16 priority 2 blocks, which would remain for a final phase. Thus, 1,251 houses would be regenerated, although the report details that there are 1,746 that suffer damages of varying degrees. Although he has said that the processes will be accelerated as much as possible, Escudé estimates that four mandates will be needed to complete the program, including the previous one; therefore, until 2035.
In the pilot test, in addition to the already renovated block, there are two others in bidding for works, which are expected to start in April; two more pending obtaining a license with the idea that the work will start in the summer, and five more behind with the drafted projects. There are subsidies (85% on structures, 80% on envelope elements or 60% on elevators; for vulnerable families they can reach 100%).
The report details that precautionary measures have had to be taken in 30 properties, some carried out a long time ago and others derived from the current campaign, where it is urgent to intervene to repair, especially elements of the structure, such as shoring. There are also ten blocks, with 200 homes inspected, that have serious or very serious structural deficiencies. In this category the extrapolation criterion could be applied. Thus, the number of homes could reach 753.
The inspection also reflects that 19 buildings – 401 homes evaluated – have serious or very serious deficiencies in other construction systems, such as facades, roofs and installations, but not structural ones. In addition, 19 properties (449 homes) have been detected with problems of all levels of severity (mild, important, serious and very serious). Finally, 29 communities with aluminous cement have been identified, which does not necessarily mean that the structures are affected by aluminosis.