The residents of the Madrid neighborhood of Lavapiés went to bed this Tuesday with the peace of mind that, for the moment, the demolition of buildings 1 and 3 on Cabestreros Street, where the well-known Senegalese restaurant Baobab was located and they want to build a macro capsule hostel, . This was announced yesterday by the City Council, after the socialist group presented a complaint to the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office for “a possible crime of damage to Madrid’s heritage.” But early this Wednesday, less than 24 hours after this precautionary suspension, the demolition work continued. Two workers were removing part of the roof of one of the buildings, as can be seen in several videos recorded by the neighbors themselves, who denounce that even on Tuesday afternoon, as soon as the stoppage became known, the works did not stop.
📌 Footbath
Of course, as soon as the (provisional) stoppage of the demolition of the Baobab building was announced yesterday, the company in charge of the demolition took out the pickaxe and began to destroy the building as those who know they go unpunished before the law and laugh in the face of the…
— DECADENT MADRID (@MadridDecadente)
The demolition was imminent and the Urban Planning spokesperson of the socialist municipal group, Antonio Giraldo, registered a complaint with the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday morning requesting the precautionary suspension of the demolition. Hours later, the Madrid City Council announced that the works were provisionally stopped. “What we have done is talk to the Community of Madrid and so that the General Directorate of Historical Heritage can give us their opinion,” explained the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida.
An illegal demolition is being carried out. The license is suspended. Yesterday night we brought it to the attention of the Urban Planning Delegate and the municipal police. I’m going to notify you again right now and call again.
I know this technique well: it eliminates at least the…
— Antonio Giraldo (@giraldeo)
Giraldo denounces in his Manolo Osuna, president of the La Corrala de Lavapiés Neighborhood Association, asked himself the same thing this Tuesday: “What happens if there is rain and the building falls into disrepair and ends up being declared a ruin?”
The two buildings, which are on the corner of Nelson Mandela Square and do not have urban protection, were purchased for 3.5 million euros by the architect and developer Javier González to build a capsule hostel with 288 beds that will be operated by the SmartRental group. The demolition work had already begun, amid complaints from neighbors, who wallpapered the facades of the buildings with black and white posters of González’s face and messages such as: “Enemy of Lavapiés. Speculators out of our neighborhoods.”
