Police in northeastern Spain have begun evicting hundreds of migrants, many of them undocumented, from an abandoned school building in Badalona, just north of Barcelona. The operation, led by Catalonia's regional police in riot gear, started early on Wednesday under court orders, with many occupants having already left beforehand.
The building, known as B9, had been occupied by sub-Saharan migrants, predominantly from Senegal and Gambia, since it was abandoned in 2023. Badalona's mayor, Xavier García Albiol, confirmed the move on social media, saying: “As I had promised, the eviction of the squat of 400 illegal squatters in the B9 school in Badalona begins.”
Marta Llonch, a lawyer representing the squatters, said many of them earned a living collecting scrap metal. She added that some residents held valid residency and work permits but were forced to live there because they could not afford housing elsewhere.
“Many people are going to sleep on the street tonight,” Llonch told The Associated Press. “Just because you evict these people it doesn’t mean they disappear. If you don’t give them an alternative place to live they will now be on the street, which will be a problem for them and the city.”
García Albiol, of the conservative Popular Party, has long built his political career in Badalona on an anti-immigration platform. The town hall had argued the squat posed a public safety risk, noting that in 2020 a fire in an occupied factory in the city killed four people.
Spain, like other southern European countries, has seen a steady influx of migrants arriving by sea over the past decade. While many developed nations have adopted tougher migration policies, Spain’s left-wing government has maintained that legal migration supports economic growth.
