BarcelonaA Barcelona court will have the last word on the eviction of a tenant in the Gràcia neighborhood of Barcelona. The investment fund that owns the flat has taken the case to court to force the eviction with the aim of turning the house into a cohabiting. It is number 14 of Carrer Sant Agustí, where there are already four flats colivings. Several files and fines long ago established that the work to tear apart the flats had been done illegally.
On the other hand, the affected person, Txema Escorsa, who has refused to leave his home after the end of the contract, wants the court to force an extension of the contract claiming that it is a tense housing rental area and that he is in a vulnerable situation. In fact, the tenant argues that he has not stopped paying the rent, of 775 euros, despite having been reported, and considers that the contract is still valid.
The New Amsterdam Developers (NAD) fund, which a court recently found to be a large holder, bought the estate in December 2023 and has since refused to extend the leases. With the old neighbors already out of the building, the flats were divided into rooms that were offered for 840, 920 and 940 euros. The price of a single flat went from 775 euros a month to 2,700. At the gates of the City of Justice, Txema Escorsa recalled this Tuesday how he received the notice from the investment fund: “There were no negotiations. The demand for eviction came directly.”
More affected
NAD owns the entire property at number 14 Sant Agustí Street, where there are 11 flats in total. In the same block there are already four floors colivings and two more that are empty. Of the three tenants of the block affected by an eviction process, Escorsa’s case is the first to reach the hands of justice. It is also the only one in which a situation of vulnerability has not been recognized because it has not been proven with documentation. However, he defends that he has given the court more than a dozen documents that show that he is not “in the best economic moment”.
The Tenants’ Union, which represents the affected, has assessed that this case demonstrates the need for the reform of the urban leases law (LAU) “to put an end to the fraud of temporary rentals and rooms”, which will be voted on in February and will be added to the regulation approved in December in Parliament. “The case of the Txema is an example of the consequences of the free bar with the fraud that has been installed in the business of renting rooms. Like the Txema, in Catalonia there are hundreds of thousands of tenants with the fear of what can happen when their contract ends”, the Union assessed.
Sanctions of the City Council
In 2024, an inspection by Barcelona City Council deemed illegal the works that allowed part of the Sant Agustí, 14 building to become a cohabiting. Although there were several proceedings and sanctions against the property, the council failed to get NAD to regularize the situation and the rooms have continued to be offered.
When NAD bought the property in December 2023, it sent a burofax to all the neighbors informing them that it would not be renewing the leases. The investment fund did not take long to divide the flats into three rooms which were managed by Enter Coliving, dedicated to the management of temporary rentals. Before long, the rent per room was more than three times the price paid for the whole floor by the previous tenants.
The neighbors reported the situation in January 2024 and the Barcelona Mayor also got involved. Finally the City Council carried out an inspection of the building and determined that at least two of the floors had been worked on irregularly. The council even ordered to demolish the works done and restore the homes as they were, and since NAD did not do this it received an initial fine of 500 euros. Then there is a second one of 500 euros more.
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