Jaume Collboni’s government is finalizing a social, urban and police shock plan to rebuild daily life in Ciutat Vella. And the Raval always reveals itself as an exaggerated thermometer that warns of evils that also loom over the rest of the neighborhoods on this side of Barcelona. A year ago the City Council presented the umpteenth emergency measures to combat drug consumption on these streets.
Here people live at war with many criminals who occupy apartments, sell drugs, deal with stolen cell phones… And this creates a very harsh ecosystem. Many residents have had enough of living with so many care centers aimed at very upset people. Quite a few inject themselves anywhere, and some, if they can, snoop on your cell phone. Other neighbors, however, consider that police pressure is not enough, that as long as there is demand for drugs the supply will make its way, that there is no other way than to increase social investment. These stories illustrate the crossroads of the Raval.
?Drug dealers on this side of Ciutat Vella have their own commercial. A young woman, very tall and lanky, flirts with a couple of guys around the Filmoteca de Catalunya, cajoles them and leads them to a block of flats located in front of the facility.
“These traffickers sold on the property next door – neighbors and merchants in the area say – until they were kicked out, until the Mossos recovered that apartment. And a couple of months ago they occupied this other one. The coming and going of clients is continuous. Some stay for a while and others leave right away.” Yes, in ten minutes, one afternoon, a dozen people, all in a hurry, enter the farm. Everything is very obvious. For some time now, many dealers allow their clients to assemble their pipes and smoke their doses at their points of sale. What they don’t let them do is get punctured. They are embarrassed that someone dies in the living room of their drug apartment.
“And the people who live in the building are fed up with so many fights, arguments, intimidations – neighbors and merchants in the area continue –… Because this business is also based on people’s fear. But here everyone already knows what’s happening. And the police too, who are on top of the matter. We hope that the court will make it easy for you.”
Soon the young woman, tall and lanky, and the two tourists leave the farm. The tourists stagger, walk slowly, with slanted, well-positioned eyes. The woman quickens her pace and leaves them behind. She starts walking around the neighborhood again.
?“To these people,” say residents of a building on Valldonzella Street, in the upper part of the neighborhood, “in order for them to leave, for them to be kicked out, you have to ruin their business, mount protests, so that everyone knows what is happening, so that “Let them see that they can’t do whatever they want… even if they try to scare you.”
A couple with a child occupied an apartment here in June, and the tenants shrugged. After all, it was a family. In the neighborhood many people work out of necessity. They are not gangsters. But two weeks later the supposed family disappeared, and very sinister guys settled in the apartment, some days and then another. Drug traffickers usually use machacas to manage their points of sale, trusted drug addicts who are easily replaceable. And suddenly the stairs were filled with drug addicts who said they came to see their aunt or another relative, at any time of the day or night.
“They broke the portal door three times, they took the fire extinguishers, they tried to force the roof door, because in the Raval you can go from farm to farm through the rooftops. And when we made caceroladas they threw bottles at us, and once one came down with a stick. But the Mossos took advantage of all these troubles and last week the owner was able to recover her apartment and put in another lock. We were super relieved! “
?Neighbors of Roig Street report that in premises occupied for years they deal constantly with stolen items: cell phones, computers, scooters…
“And lately also with drugs – these neighbors abound. People come all the time. That’s how the circle closes, right? You steal, you sell, you buy… And those who really benefit from this racket are dedicated to terrorizing us. They also re-rent other occupied apartments, try to expand by taking on more homes, associate with other criminals… Some of us neighbors want to organize ourselves, to see if the authorities pay more attention to us. But it is not easy. Nobody wants problems with these people. We see them every day. At least we already have a WhatsApp group…”
Those who really benefit from this racket one day appear very conciliatory, as if we could all live in a strange harmony, and another they shout insults and threaten you. And if a stranger slows down his pace as he passes through the farm, they immediately ask him in a bad way what the hell he wants. From time to time a tourist appears on the street following the trail of his iPhone. The absent-minded thieves who usually stay on the corner with Hospital also act as lookouts. The legends that claimed that neighborhood thieves respect their neighbors have long gone down in history.
?Acció Raval, the neighborhood entity on this side of the city that traditionally fought the most against drug trafficking, applauds the work of the municipal and regional police. Last week they closed another one, on Vistalegre Street. The agents seized several doses of heroin, cocaine and crack, caught half a dozen clients administering them and arrested three people. The property was then boarded up and returned to its owner.
“The traffickers also get smarter,” they continue in Acció Raval. They occupy and rent apartments and premises throughout the neighborhood. Right now they can control a dozen. We are looking at it. Some exploit them intensively. Others put them to sleep for a while. And so the sale jumps from one point to another, to hinder investigations. In many cases, drug addicts are not allowed to inject themselves. And this translates into an increase in consumption on the streets. People are very worried. The other day we held a meeting, discreetly, and more than 30 neighbors came, each one on their own, very concerned. Consumption in the streets triggers complaints, strains coexistence, generates aporophobia… The police do their job, but it is not enough. We don’t need more police, but more social care. Unless the administrations put so many neglected homes to use and multiply social investment, we will not get out of this circle.”
The accumulations of drug addicts very far from everything abound in the squares of Sant Agustí and Gardunya, on Egipcíaques Street, in the historic Rubió i Lluch gardens, around the Social Security offices, around the Film Library…
?And near these places there is a center for reducing the risk of drug use, an assisted consumption room, a soup kitchen… And more and more neighbors are getting tired of living with them.
In Robador and surrounding areas, they remember that the previous municipal government promised them that it would move the risk reduction center before the end of the mandate.
In Lluna, the women who usually take their chairs out to the street to chat in the fresh air grew tired of the fights, arguments and altercations of some users of Metzineres, a cooperative dedicated to lending a hand to homeless women with drug problems.
In Sant Agustí they say that police pressure has already scared away those who came here to paint stolen bikes that they resold. “But the nuns’ dining room attracts a lot of people who… The other day they beat one of them and took off her wig and shoes.” Public space ends up taken over by people who sleep in tents or cardboard boxes, and many residents feel expelled.
“Drugs gentrify us,” they say in the neighborhood association Amics de Arc del Teatre i Rodalies. The Baluard assisted consumption room is saturated. In the south of Raval, coexistence is broken. We can’t sit on a terrace without them trying to steal our bags. The last time my son came with his daughter he found one poking himself in the crotch. He doesn’t want to go back! “We are thinking of setting up another demonstration, to put pressure on the new mayor.”
“They are kicking us out, the usual neighbors,” they say in the Raval Sud association. There are four of us left… My son tells me that he should sell now, but my parents are very close. The Baluard got out of hand, we live surrounded by drug addicts who don’t stop fighting, who inject themselves anywhere, who attract a lot of camels on scooters… The Urban Guard is there all the time, but they would have to move more around. For residents, the street is now a place of passage that must be left behind as soon as possible. And it makes you angry, a lot. These people deserve attention, but so do we, right?”
