Eviction of Manresa block occupied by activists halted as Sareb drops complaint

Occupation and police operation

The Plataforma d'Afectats per la Hipoteca i el Capitalisme (PAHC) del Bages occupied a building on Fra Jacint Coma i Galí street in Manresa on Saturday, 7 November. Sareb, the bank that manages property transferred from rescued financial institutions, owns the block, which the PAHC said had stood empty for more than ten years. The group wanted to house five evicted families there. Early on Sunday, 8 November, the Mossos d'Esquadra began clearing the building, with riot vans blocking the street and municipal and medical services on site. Start times differ between reports: Europa Press and the Mossos gave about 8:00, while El País and LaSexta said 7:00.

Clashes outside the building

According to eldiario.es and LaVanguardia, officers used sledgehammers to break through bricked-up doors and drag occupants out. About 150 people gathered outside overnight, some with tents, to hinder the operation, and police later cleared that crowd. The PAHC denounced the operation as bad practice, and the Comuns asked Catalan Interior councillor Núria Parlon to appear before parliament to explain the proportionality of the operation. The Mossos said officers used batons only occasionally because activists threw pyrotechnic material at them, and that mediation teams had tried to talk to the crowd first. The Mossos confirmed one person was detained for assaulting officers. The PAHC said about 20 people were injured, a figure the Plataforma attributed to its own count rather than an official one.

PAHC spokesman Martí de las Heras linked the clash to the wider problem of empty bank-owned housing during the protest.

“How can we allow a block in a neighbourhood like this to have 12 empty flats for 10 years?”

Sareb withdraws its complaint

Sareb withdrew its complaint after finding vulnerable families inside, and the Mossos suspended the operation around midday on 8 November. The company said it had acted under its protocols, which oblige its legal services to report squatting in its properties but include safeguards when vulnerable people are affected. Sareb also contacted the Generalitat that morning to begin the process of handing over the building, under an agreement the bank has with the Catalan government for managing housing from rescued institutions. LaSexta reported that families were back inside the block by midday, about five hours after police moved in.

Disputed counts and what comes next

The number of people inside remains contested. The PAHC said 15 families, including eight children, were in the block, while eldiario.es counted about 50 occupants, some of them minors, and LaVanguardia reported about fifty people including several children. Eldiario.es reported that five families would be able to stay in the building for now. The PAHC linked the occupation to the campaign by the Confederació Sindical d'Habitatge de Catalunya (COSHAC) to transfer Sareb's housing stock fully into public rental pools. The campaign is tied to the general strike called for Wednesday, 11 November.