La Nave: occupants of Barcelona warehouse threatened with eviction (13 images)
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Cafebabel ENG (NS)District 22 is a zone of Barcelona which was constructed above the old industrial neighbourhood of Poblenou, which is in the northern part of the city. We meet residents of La Nave here, a reclaimed warehouse housing around 300 people of different ages and nationalities, including immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Romania, South Americans, North Africans and also Spanish people. Up until recently these people had homes and salaries; most are not too happy to be living here since their fortunes faded. It’s better than the streets though; there is more security, and more chances of survival. There is also a certain notion of community here, with three bars serving the residents at modest prices. There are also stores for scraps to be sold for metal recycling, which is almost the main source of income for the residents, and which is one of the life lines of La Nave (pronounced 'nav-eh', literally meaning 'factory'). However for the past two years their livelihood has been threatened by the Iglesias Baciana family, local property moguls, who called the police on the locals in July 2012 before judges put an end to it. Ironically this very family run a foundation helping young women living in poverty in Africa, and indeed, around the world (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Balcony, La Nave (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Huge, 50, is an artist and musician who used to work on a sailing boat for tourists at the Port of Barcelona. When his boss stopped paying the berth rental he was fined and ruined, he says. He was one of the first to arrive at La Nave, where he devotes his time to one of his passions, painting (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
David prepares breakfast at home whilst catching up with the latest news on television (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
One of the resident's rooms (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Many people living in La Nave are not living in Spain legally and risk being deported, or held in a detention centre ('centro de internamiento de extranjeros', CIE). Police forces threatened to force a raid during the eviction process (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
At a residents assembly (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Kebará writes protest placards on the patio in La Nave; the official letter written to the owners of the land by the residents is in Spanish here (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Leti, one of the Catalan locals who lives in La Nave,gets ready to attend the solidarity protest in Poblenau, raising awareness in the neighbourhood of the conflict (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
During an assembly (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
The protest in the neighbourhood of Poblenou (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
View from the window (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Two residents of La Nave celebrate the suspended evacuation of their neighbours (Image: (cc) GroundPress)
Ibrahima, waits in front of La Nave for the bad news of a possible eviction, but luckily everything turned out allright in the end (Image : (cc) GroundPress)
Translated from La Nave: la Barcelona humana que no te habían contado