The merchants and residents of the Charming Nous they are concerned about a trickle of conflicts with the owner of one of the stores. This commercial gallery of Barcelona Almost a hundred years old – the oldest in operation, since 1931 – which boasts a family atmosphere, it has encountered a delicate situation to handle and that it had never experienced.
A trader has threatened three roommates, even hitting one of them in the street. The three cases reached trial and authorship was proven. The conflict began about eight years ago and has grown in crescendo despite notifications to the local or Catalan police on each occasion, laments a spokesman for this community of owners, located on Calle València with Dos de Maig.
The drop that broke the camel’s back have been several destruction this Easter in stores, corridors and in the bathroom for customers. luckily the gallery it was closed to the public that day and the next, so they had leeway to fix the venue before reopening it.
The events took place in the past Easter Sunday, around noon. A couple of blinds appeared painted or graffitied, material leaking through interior corridors, a shop with a broken window glass, the community toilet cistern and the broken hand dryer… The merchants who now run the community of shopkeepers had to interrupt their holidays to go to work and call the Mossos d’Esquadra.
After an unsuccessful visit this April to a police station, last Friday they presented a community complaint against the alleged perpetrator for “threats, minor coercion and damages & rdquor;. Being a horizontal property – each shopkeeper owns his stall – they can’t kick him outSo they have opted for prosecution. The police confirm to El Periódico that they have identified the individual and that he is being denounced and pending a court summons. Following this newspaper’s contact, the Mossos d’Esquadra have provided the business community with a direct telephone line for more agile dialogue.
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And it is that the concern of the sellers is above all in the future. They attribute their partner’s behavior to poor mental health and fear that he could be involved in more serious incidents, having made arson threats. For this reason, the Catalan police ensure that has “activated a preventive patrol & rdquor; to calm the spirits and avoid scares, since the galleries also house the portals of a dozen blocks of flats.
Needless to say, retailers are also concerned that this episode will damage the image of galleries, which are struggling to keep up with an increasingly globalized Barcelona. The neighborhood clientele continues to support them and a group of collectibles and retro toy stores has made them reach new audiences. They organize promotions and activities at Christmas, a fishing fabric sardines for Carnival, a story and drawing contest for Sant Jordi, discounted stock fairs, vintage markets… The effort is evident, but so is the difficulty of filling all the interior corridors with life or facing major reforms. They trust that, now, the promised surveillance will resolve the conflict.