A 73-year-old man tragically died in Barcelona on Thursday after being evicted from his apartment in the Raval district. The incident, which occurred on Robadors Street, has sparked dismay and grief, once again highlighting the dramatic consequences of evictions.
The Tragic Sequence of Events
The man, who had been living in the apartment for some time, was evicted by the judicial committee on Thursday morning. However, in the afternoon, he managed to re-enter the property. When the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan police, arrived at the scene, the man fell through the inner courtyard and died instantly.
Neighbors on Robadors Street reported that the deceased was someone who had previously lived in the area and had moved into this particular apartment some time ago. According to sources from the Mossos d’Esquadra, the eviction scheduled for this Thursday initially proceeded without “relevant” incidents. Officers were alerted at 5:45 PM after an alarm was raised from the same apartment. Upon their arrival, they found the 73-year-old man who, according to police, stated he only wanted to collect some of his personal belongings. At that moment, he jumped into the void, despite several officers attempting to prevent him.
A Recurring Drama
This tragic incident is, unfortunately, not an isolated case. It is not the first time that individuals have taken their own lives before or shortly after an eviction. In Catalonia alone, there have been two other such cases in 2024: a pair of sisters in Barcelona who had lived in the same house for more than 30 years, and a man from Sabadell under similar circumstances.
Background of the Eviction
The precise circumstances of the deceased’s living situation on Robadors Street are not yet fully clear. It appears he was not the person against whom the original eviction lawsuit was filed. Judicial sources have indicated that the judicial entourage encountered this man at the time of the eviction, although another person had been identified as the resident when the lawsuit was initially filed.
Barcelona’s Court of First Instance 2 had admitted the property owner’s lawsuit in February of this year. According to a report by Barcelona City Council’s Social Services, the occupant waived mediation by the Consistory’s anti-eviction unit. The eviction had been scheduled for this Thursday, June 12, after the affected party was informed on April 25.
