An squatter has locked himself in the Sant Feliu de Llobregat train station and has forced the stoppage of the works to demolish it. Some workers showed up this morning with the intention of starting work to demolish the historic building as part of the works to bury the train tracks when they encountered the presence of an occupant. The activist and engineer Andrea J. Messeguer entered the station on the night of the Verbena de Sant Joan as a sign of protest against the demolition and affirms that he will not leave until a court order is issued. He assures that he now lives there and that the Mossos cannot expel him because "more than 48 hours have passed." "I am trying to save the Sant Feliu station, which has more than 169 years of history and is about to be demolished in a completely unjustified way," he explained to La Vanguardia.
The burial works are progressing at a good pace. Two weeks ago the trains began to circulate on a single track and the operators are already drilling next to the track to dig the tunnel with the aim of meeting the four-year deadline set by Adif to complete one of the works. The burying of the Sant Feliu tracks is one of the most complex projects in Spanish railway history and has become the main demand of the municipality in the last 40 years.
This Monday they were to start the demolition of the station but the presence of the activist has forced the works to be delayed. “I would like to stop the demolition while I can continue living here. The first time I entered here was 10 days ago and I started living here on the Friday of Sant Joan. I've been here for three nights and intend to stay here until a court order forces me to leave. So I'll leave immediately, but for now, this is my house ”, he pointed out. The Sant Feliu City Council recognized that the occupation has slowed down "the planned dismantling process" but is confident that the person will leave the premises "in the next few hours."
The Mossos d'Esquadra have appeared first thing in the morning to demand that he leave, but the activist has refused, claiming his right to be there until a court order says otherwise. This afternoon, however, some workers went to the station and there were moments of tension. “They have taken an iron bar, they have pushed me, they have pulled my hair. They have threatened me with a stick telling me what I was doing there and I have told them that they are in my house and that if I have to leave the police will tell me and not them. They have had a very violent attitude. I have called 112 but seeing that the screams could be heard from the street, they have decided to leave”, he explained.
Messeguer is an activist who closely monitors the works to bury the train tracks in Sant Feliu de Llobregat through his Instagram account. In an article, published in the local magazine Fet a Sant Feliu, he advocated for a different design of the works that would allow the preservation of the old station, a building with great heritage and historical value. The City Council, in a statement, recalls that the disassembly plan contemplates the preservation and care of those potentially recoverable elements of the original building with which it is expected to enable a museum space in the future underground station.
However, the conservation of the station did not have the support of the population of Sant Feliu. He voted in a referendum for the option of demolishing the station in exchange for conserving heritage elements. The Salvem l'Estació platform considered the consultation questions "tricky". While the works last, ADIF has enabled a provisional station with elevators on both sides that replace the old and deadly level crossing.
