At least two people have died in a fire in an abandoned industrial building squatted by migrants near Barcelona.
Seventeen people were injured – five of them seriously – in the blaze, which broke out in the small hours while the building’s residents were asleep. Firefighters fear that more could be trapped inside.
Dozens of people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, have been sleeping in the building in Badalona. One resident told local media that as many as 150 people slept there every night.
Moisés, a Moroccan man who slept in the building, told La Vanguardia newspaper that the fire was started by a candle, but this has not been confirmed by authorities.
David Borrell, a fire department spokesman, said about 30 people had been rescued and that many others escaped through the rear of the building. He said the building was in a precarious state and in danger of collapsing.
Xavier García Albiol, the mayor of Badalona, described the situation as “a tragedy”. He said social services were caring for about 60 people and that it was impossible to know how many had been inside.
“It could have been as many as 200, the numbers fluctuated,” he said. “For years we’ve known this could end in tragedy.”
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, tweeted that he was following events closely and expressed his sorrow at the loss of life.
Record numbers of migrants have been arriving in the Canary Islands in recent months, and they are gradually redistributed throughout the Spanish mainland, many in Barcelona.
The migrants are forced to live in a legal limbo, as under Spanish immigration laws they cannot work legally. Until recently many scraped a living as manteros, street vendors who sell cheap copies of trainers and designer handbags. Others collected scrap metal in shopping trolleys.
However, Covid restrictions have put a stop to these activities and pushed many migrants into even more perilous conditions. Before the pandemic broke out, it was estimated that about 500 manteros were operating in Barcelona alone, with many more in nearby coastal towns.
