A resident of Girona demonstrated on Wednesday in front of City Hall to report the disappearance of all the furniture from an apartment he had recovered after the end of a social rental contract from the 60/40 program. During the protest, he wore a Guy Fawkes mask and carried a sign that read that the city council had stolen the furniture from his home a year ago.
The conflict arises after the property was returned on the agreed-upon date, but without furniture, even though weeks earlier the owner had been informed that the handover could be delayed because the apartment was still occupied. The affected party now rejects the financial compensation offered by the City Council after an external appraisal and has already submitted allegations.
The owner warned that he wanted to recover the apartment before June
The process began at the start of last year, when the owner informed the Municipal Housing Office that the social rental contract expired in June and that he wanted to recover the property. His intention, as he explained, was to re-rent the apartment to a vulnerable family, but outside of municipal programs.
In May, he received notice that the apartment was still occupied and that the return would be delayed. Finally, the property was handed over on the scheduled date, although without the furniture that had been inside.
Since then, the resident has kept the claim for the loss of furniture open. He also maintains that he will continue to protest in front of the city council until the City Council addresses his demands.
Sergi Font argued that the appraisal included items outside the initial inventory
The deputy mayor and councilor for Ecological Transition and Urban Area, Sergi Font, explained that the City Council commissioned an external valuation to avoid bias in the quantification of damages. The owner, however, does not accept the financial compensation resulting from this report.
Font specified that, unlike other cases resolved solely with the initial inventory, the appraisal also included the resident's request and items not included in the original list. Despite this, the affected party has submitted allegations against the municipal proposal.
Wednesday's protest visualized this disagreement in front of the municipal building, one year after the disappearance of the furniture. On his sign, the resident placed the start of the conflict at that time and linked his claim to the return of all the apartment's belongings.
Sergi Font, deputy mayor and councilor for Ecological Transition and Urban Area, stated that the external report was commissioned expressly to avoid partiality and that, in this case, it also reviewed elements that were not included in the original inventory.