Barcelona city council purchases controversial housing block Casa Orsola

The Barcelona city council and non-profit organization Hàbitat 3 have reached an agreement to buy Casa Orsola, the high-profile residence building in the Eixample district of the city.

The first eviction of a resident of the building was scheduled for last Friday but was prevented when a thousand people gathered to protest and stop it. The second attempt at evicting teacher Josep Torrent was due to take place on February 18.  

According to the council, an agreement has been reached through a collaborative social formula.

"It is an innovative, extraordinary, and pioneering operation," mayor Jaume Collboni said at a press conference on Friday at midday in the city council. This has been possible because the property has "collectively been bought by a social entity and the city council."

In 2020, investment fund Lioness Inversiones bought the block with plans to turn it into short-term lets, much more profitable than long-term rentals.

Shortly after the purchase, the company informed residents - some of whom had lived there for decades - that their leases would not be renewed.

The council announced that Lioness Inversiones has agreed to sell the property for €9.2 million, which is 30% lower than the price market in the Eixample Esquerra neighborhood. The cost has been €3,335.75 per square meter, while the average in the area is €4,774.75 per square meter.

Casa Orsola is located at 122 Consell de Cent street, with 137 Calàbria street. There are 26 houses and four different commercial establishments.

There are seven indefinite-term contracts, seven short-term contracts, five apartments with long-term agreements, five more pending judicial processes, and two empty flats.

"All evictions will be suspended as we buy the building as a city with an entity that has a funded experience and a long-term trajectory to send a strong message," Collboni explained as the council now shares ownership with Hàbitat3 social housing entity.

"Barcelona will defend the housing right, and we will do it to change the rules of the game," he reiterated throughout the press conference.

Asked about what will happen with other similar cases as Casa Orsola, Collboni announced that they will study "case-by-case, but what needs to be done is to change the rules of the game," he said as "there is no magic solution."

City's issues

Mayor Jaume Collboni was accompanied by the president of Hàbitat3, Carme Trilla, and the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, the Barcelona Ombudsman, David Bondia, and the Housing Commissioner, Joan Ramon Riera.

Bondia had offered to mediate between the parties to reach a solution, which happened "discreetly," he said.

"The city's problematics and challenges have to be faced as such, and not as competitions as then there are winners and losers, but what we need to do is to tackle them with consented solutions," Bondia added.

This message is shared by Carme Trilla, who leads the Hàbitat3 entity that manages ceded buildings by the city council to offer accessible housing opportunities.

The Tenants' Union has been organizing a "marathon" of actions since last week, culminating with a demonstration on Friday with the intention of preventing the eviction.

After the eviction was postponed to Tuesday at 5:30 am, it was later learned that the same eviction had been re-scheduled for February 18.

'Speculator does not lose'

The Tenants' Union did not take long to criticize the deal made by the city council and Habitat3 to buy Casa Orsola for €9.2 million.

"Instead of helping tenants, the city council decided to give its back to tenants and the union to ensure that the speculator did not lose a single euro," the Tenants' Union wrote.

"The city council will pay €9.2 million to Albert Ollé to rescue and award him after many years trying to evict Casa Orsola's neighbors," the statement shared continues. 

The deal has been considered "opaque that not only launders speculation, but it has been made with Carme Trilla, who, with mayor Jaume Collboni, want to get rid of the 30% measure in place." The 30% forces all new building constructions in Barcelona to set such a percentage of the newly constructed houses for social housing.

"While Collboni and Trilla are being photographed with Casa Orsola, they are also looking for ways to get rid of one of the few tools that stop speculation and protect the housing rights in the city," the Tenants' Union said in a statement.

Hours later, Enric Aragonès, a spokesperson for the Tenants' Union, criticized the deal between Hàbitat3, the city council, and the owner.

"Nor Barcelona's Ombudsman, the Hàbitat3 entity, nor the city council have ever set foot in Casa Orsola. They have not shared their hidden operation with the union. But today, they bought the building for €9.2 million, a higher price than what Albert Ollé paid, therefore awarding an investment fund that only wanted to kick out the residents," Aragonès said.

The union celebrates that the eviction threat has ended as a "victory of the overall housing movement and all those who demonstrated to make it possible."

Other Casa Orsoles

Despite the deal, the Tenants' Union is calling for a demonstration on February 17 evening to make the "other Casa Orsoles from Barcelona" visible. The date coincides with the prior-evening to the scheduled eviction, which now has been canceled due to the agreement between local authorities and Lioness Inversiones.

Casa Orsola is a "lighthouse" that will be there to help solve a "common problem," Aragonès said during a press conference on Friday at midday.

Asked how many other buildings could be facing the same situation, Aragonès said that there could be 44 apartment blocks in the Eixample district, while the number could increase to over 3,900 blocks if authorities get rid of the 30% measure. 

However, any tenant can face the same situation as renters currently "do not have any protection" when a contract expires.

"The only protection is disobedience, staying at home, and organization among residents," Aragonès added.

'Common sense'

The owner of Casa Orsola, Albert Ollé, said in a written statement that "responsibility, common sense, and respect have been achieved to guarantee everyone's rights or a daily good coexistence" after he sold the building to the city council and the Hàbitat3 entity.

"These values, which have always been part of my career, have not always been in place during the last three years in Casa Orsola," he added while criticizing the Tenants' Union as the group's will has "never been to find solutions for the building's residents nor to reach a deal."

Hours after Collboni and the Sindicat de Llogateres separate press conferences, Ollé defended that his position has always been "to negotiate and to look for solutions for everyone who has asked for one from the respect."

Ollé thanked the Barcelona Ombudsman and the deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, as the deal would not have been possible without her.

"Finding a positive outcome for all parties was what we have advocated since day one, and we celebrate that despite the irresponsibility of some, those who were supposed to reach a deal, we were able to do it," Ollé wrote in his statement.

Back in 2022, Catalan News published an episode of our podcast, Filling the Sink, taking a look at the story behind Casa Orsola.