Varapalo of the Ombudsman of Barcelona to the City Council for irregular parking in Vall d’Hebron
The conflict that has faced residents of the Vall d’Hebron neighborhood with the Barcelona City Council and, more specifically, with the district of Horta-Guinardó, for the privatization of a green area as a parking lot for a sports club has led to the Barcelona Ombudsman, David Bondiahave published a harsh resolution against the “arbitrary” action of the district and warns him of having violated “the principle of interdiction of the arbitrariness of the Administration” contained in article 9.3 of the Spanish Constitution. The Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona has carried out this action in response to a complaint filed by a resident of the area.
The events date back to May 2021, when the residents of the Vall d’Hebron expressed their complaints about a controversial action of the city councilthe authorization of an exclusive parking area for subscribers of a sports club in a space located in the Isadora Duncan crossing that until that moment was used by pedestrians and that is urbanistically cataloged in category 6a, that is, the one reserved for parks and gardens. According to the resolution of the syndicate, to which he has had access elNacional.catthe authorization of the exclusive parking area “it was not justified or motivated, nor did it give a coherent response to any problemespecially taking into account the existence of completely empty regulated places in the green zone”.
This parking area was awarded by the district of Horta-Guinardó to the Eurofitness Valle de Hebron gym (UEsports – Vall d’Hebron Municipal Tennis Center), as admitted by the district councilor, Rosa Alarcón, in a letter dated June 10, 2021, where it was assured that previously the “municipal sports facilities Tennis Vall d’Hebrón and Olímpics requested a parking arrangement for the two facilities in the Isadora Duncan environments”, and that the district proceeded to “sectorize which area corresponded to each facility”, although the implementation was not carried out until the peak of the Covid pandemic.
In any case, andhe conflicting parking lot was clearly signposted on the access roads that clearly identified the lot as a space reserved for gym subscribers, although it did not have any barrier or require any identification to gain access. In November 2021, within the framework of the Vall d’Hebron Neighborhood Council, Councilor Alarcón admitted that the parking area for subscribers had already been the subject of a meeting with neighborhood organizations to reverse the situation: “I do not agree with what is happening right now when Isadora Duncan is being occupied by the tennis club”, said the councilor, adding that “this happened at a time when I was not there and I do not agree with it”. “This situation is being reversed right now and it will be reversed“, conclusion.
Contradictions between the district and the sports club
Now it wasn’t until January of this 2022 that the posters disappeared, although the space continued to be used as a car park until this September, according to verification by the same Sindicatura, “the pylons that prevent access to cars in this space have been replaced”. In any case, and although the problem has already been reversed, the Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona has responded to a complaint filed on June 7, 2022. At the request of the trustee, the district stated that it had not processed any authorization exclusive to locate a parking area, although the director of EuroFitness Vall d’Hebron assuredin statements to this medium, that they had “district permit to enable parking“.
beyond the blatant contradiction between the versions of the district and the sports club and the fact that the situation has been reversed, Bondia’s assessment is everything a blow to the district and, by extension, to the Barcelona City Council, since it found that “the action of the district, which allowed this space classified as 6a (parks and gardens) to be enabled as a parking lot for users of sports equipment, it’s totally arbitrary“. In addition, he adds that”The right of citizens to enjoy a harmonious urban landscape has also been violatedand to the improvement, protection and maintenance of it”.
“I’m thinking if it’s a crime”
“After reading what you read, I am wondering whether or not there is crime“, he assured, in statements in elNacional.cat, the neighbor who filed the complaint with the Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona, pointing out that the Síndic himself mentions that an article of the Constitution has been violated. “have been portrayed“, he assures, to add that “although they have rectified, if they have committed a misdemeanor or a crime turned out to be sanctioned“. In addition, he is convinced that, without his reporting of the facts, “the signs would still be there and the cars would still park”.