The property of the block located at number 14 Sant Agustí street, in the Gràcia neighborhood, has asked the court to postpone the eviction of Txema, one of the affected residents, which was scheduled for next April 15. The request was registered this Friday by New Amsterdam Developers.
The petition has been formalized at the request of the Sindicatura de Greuges of Barcelona, which acts as a mediator in this conflict since last March 24, after accepting the request put forward by the Sindicat de Llogateres.
Request for a three-month moratorium
The Receivership has explained that the company has requested a three-month moratorium with the aim of opening a path to agreement between the parties. The institution frames this movement in the search for an out-of-court solution to the conflict, without affecting the rights and guarantees of each of them.
Txema is the first tenant of the property with an eviction order from the five neighbors who are still in this 11-story building. Last March 25, a neighborhood mobilization managed to stop the first eviction, which was postponed until April 15.
Housing entities see margin to negotiate
The Syndicate of Tenants, the Gràcia Housing Syndicate and COSHAC consider that this moratorium represents an important step forward after the protests of recent weeks. The entities understand that now an opportunity opens up for the property to sit down to negotiate an exit.
"It is a victory for society and for the organized people" - Txema, affected resident
The neighbor himself has also warned that it is not an isolated case and has stressed that they will remain mobilized to defend that everyone can remain in their home and that homes are intended for living in them.
Pressure on the administrations
Housing advocacy organizations demand from administrations a much stricter and more effective application of current regulations. In parallel, BComú has asked Jaume Collboni's municipal government to sanction the company owning the property for an alleged non-compliance with the 30% reservation and for exceeding the maximum price of rooms within the colivings.
The group maintains that the municipal executive has acted with negligence when it comes to enforcing these measures and maintains that New Amsterdam Developers continues to violate them. For now, the postponement request registered before the court introduces a new scenario in Sant Agustí, where the housing movement had already called a new mobilization and had even called to spend the night in front of the property to try to prevent the eviction of the resident.