The Vic City Council, governed by Albert Castells Vilalta (Junts per Catalunya), closed the Remei social shelter on May 31, a reception resource with the capacity to shelter 40 people in vulnerable situations that had been operating since 2012. The decision has sparked criticism from opposition groups and the municipal Ombudsman, who has urged the council to “seek strategies before closing it.” The Vic government justifies the closure due to “conflicts recorded in the facility and security problems” which, according to the council, affected the workers.
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Representatives from ERC, CUP, PSC, and Vic En Comú Podem protested this Monday during the municipal plenary against the closure, coinciding with the debate of a motion promoted by the opposition that called for keeping the facility open while a new care model is defined. The closure ends a resource created during the economic crisis to address emergency housing situations and social exclusion. The municipal government has maintained that the shelter had “ceased to fulfill its original function of temporary accommodation” and that, over time, it had become “a space for prolonged stay.”
The opposition, for its part, questions the decision and attributes it to a strategy with electoral purposes. Arnau Martí, representative of Vic en Comú, acknowledges that the resource had shortcomings but defends that “it was an essential public service for the most vulnerable groups.” He also rejects the municipal government’s argument that this type of facility generates a “pull effect”—the idea that social policies for migrants encourage the massive arrival of new people—and maintains that “the exact opposite” happens.
The groups that promoted the motion (ERC, CUP, PSC, and Vic En Comú Podem) demand that the shelter remain open until a “fully defined alternative” exists and that individualized follow-up of the people affected by the closure is guaranteed. The proposal was debated in the municipal plenary, where several neighbors and users expressed their discontent. Martí has described the decision of the Junts municipal government as “a mistake” and linked the decision to a trend that “approaches the discourses of the PP and the Catalan Alliance governments” regarding migration and social exclusion.
In Badalona, the government of Xavier García Albiol (PP) rejected in March the reopening of the municipal shelter of Can Bofí Vell. The facility had been closed since 2024, according to the council, “due to management problems and accumulated debts attributed to previous governments.” The local executive has maintained its decision even after the eviction of more than 400 people from the former B9 institute, considered the largest migrant settlement in Catalonia. The decision has also sparked protests among some Badalona residents.
The closure of the Vic social shelter also affected the workers linked to the service. Contracts, scheduled until September, were all terminated on May 31. The City Council has stated that it will bet on a model based on emergency apartments and more individualized care.
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