L9 metro works trigger sinkhole in Barcelona's Putxet, 93 homes evacuated
A sinkhole 8 metres wide and 4 deep opened in an interior courtyard in Barcelona's Putxet neighbourhood on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of 93 homes and several businesses. The Generalitat confirmed the collapse was caused by tunnel boring for the L9 metro line.
What happened
A sinkhole appeared without warning on Tuesday morning in an interior courtyard of a block bounded by Rubinstein, Teodora Lamadrid and Sant Gervasi de Cassoles streets in the Putxet neighbourhood. The cavity measured 8 metres in diameter and 4 metres in depth. Firefighters were alerted before 11:00 and evacuated five buildings containing 93 dwellings and ground-floor commercial premises, including a pizzeria and a dental clinic. No one was injured.
- Monitoring instruments detect an increase in vertical settlements in the area being tunnelled.
- Reinforced surveillance is deployed around the worksite.
- Pizzeria Verona administrator discovers the bathroom has collapsed into the sinkhole.
- Firefighters are alerted and begin evacuating five buildings.
- Concrete injection starts; process expected to last all afternoon.
Cause and monitoring
Laura Carrasco, head of Geotechnics and Underground Works at the Generalitat's Territori department, said the sinkhole was caused by the tunnel boring machine working on the central section of the L9 and L10 metro lines. Instruments placed in buildings and the ground to track vertical and horizontal movements had registered an increase in settlements early that morning. Around 8:00, surveillance was reinforced. The cavity opened behind the TBM, which continued excavating normally.
It can no longer evolve and remains as it is.
Evacuations and reactions
Domingo Finez, administrator of the Verona pizzeria on Teodora Lamadrid, arrived to open the business and found the bathroom had disappeared. "It's a big sinkhole, it swallowed the whole bathroom," he said. Thais López, a worker at the Barreras dental clinic, said her boss told staff "Girls, this is not safe" after cracks appeared on walls that had been intact the day before. Neighbour Mari Carmen said residents had previously warned about cracks in the garage. The PP's parliamentary spokeswoman Ángeles Esteller called for an independent safety audit of the L9 works and announced a series of parliamentary questions on causes, controls and compensation.
We already warned that we had cracks in the garage. They should check that before doing these things.
Comparisons to the 2005 Carmel sinkhole
The incident revived memories of the 2005 collapse in Barcelona's Carmel neighbourhood, where a 35-metre-deep, 20-metre-wide sinkhole triggered by L5 metro works forced the evacuation of around 1,000 people and sparked a political crisis. Carrasco insisted the Putxet case "has nothing to do with Carmel," noting that a tunnel already exists beneath the new cavity and the TBM had already passed the location.
Next steps
Fire chief Sebastià Massaguer said crews began injecting concrete into the hole to stabilise the ground, a process expected to last all afternoon. He could not confirm whether residents would be able to return home that night. Municipal services provided temporary accommodation. The Generalitat said the sinkhole was not expected to grow further.
