Resistance of the last neighbor of the block in Dreta de l'Eixample

Xavier Olivier is The property's last neighbor Located at number 347 of Carrer de la Diputació, al Drita neighborhood in Eixample. Years ago A Dutch company bought the entire building Most of the tenants who lived there did not have their contracts renewed. As time passed, he remained alone, Surrounded by apartments that were mostly bought by foreigners And in many cases they rented it. “Since all this commotion,” Xavier laments, “there are things that have changed my life. You would go out to hang out and meet the upstairs neighbor. Now there are no clotheslines. “I'm the only one who hangs out clothes.”

Although the situation saddens him He refuses to leave. “The day everything is rehabilitated and everything is sold, I don't know what they're going to do with a tenant they can't remove. Under the contract, they can't evict me, but they can make my life more or less impossible, so that I end up being the person they want to be.” “Leaving. It makes me feel so nervous.” And now he confirms it “I will resist until the end. I do not want to leave. I am from Barcelona, ​​from the Eixample. I lived in the Eixample, I was born in the Eixample and I hope to die in the Eixample..

The last four neighbors of another building in Diputació

Near the property where Xavier lives, at Carrer de la Diputació, 333, a similar situation occurs. They live in this building Four neighbors have lived in the building for more than 50 years That they are now surrounded by empty or boarded-up apartments and everything indicates that they will become so Luxury homes.

Gentrification in Eixample, in a novel

The state of gentrification occurring in Eixample served as an inspiration for writer Ferran Escoda, who wrote the novel a few years earlier “Last days in Eixample”. Escoda reveals “the process of a lone man left alone in this neighborhood that is being emptied of its former residents.” This is a situation that is increasing more and more in central Barcelona.