Tension in Sant Gervasi-La Bonanova, in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the upper part of Barcelona, ??due to the imminent eviction of some usurped premises for decades.
“If they evict La Ruïna and El Kubo, let Sant Gervasi burn”, warn the squatters themselves on social networks. And next to these words, the drawing of a building and a burning police car. These messages are unleashing neighborhood concern. “The eviction attempt will take place tomorrow, Thursday at five in the morning. Our house is already a trench”, add the squatters.
Yes, the squatters have already barricaded the place. We are on a plot located at number 6 Joan de la Salle street. These days they flanked it with municipal fences and construction material in order to make the work of the Mossos d’Esquadra more difficult. And they also appealed to their supporters, summoning as many as possible to a kind of resistance pajama party.
Two buildings are built on this plot. Here, a long time ago, some developers planned to build a good handful of luxury apartments. But the brick crisis frustrated the project. A few residents of the surrounding area say that the property later passed into the hands of la la Sareb.
The squatters arrived a few years later, in 2016. First, they took over an old office building and set up what they call El Kubo. They say that since then this property has provided shelter to a hundred people. This farm has already been evicted twice, but then, on both occasions, the squatters reconquered it.
Later, in 2019, they set up La Ruïna on the property next door. La Ruïna has a recording studio, a library and a gym, and also functions as a meeting point for alternative groups. “If La Ruïna falls, the neighborhood burns”, they insist on social networks.
Some residents of the surrounding area are indifferent to the presence of squatters in the neighborhood. They recognize that they do not disturb their daily lives. Others, on the other hand, understand that they are a source of insecurity, and they do not like to violate private property in this way.
