Metzineres is going through a critical moment: the owner of the premises at Carrer de la Lluna, 3 wants to sell the property. Thanks to collective mobilisation —and to the more than 4,500 people who have stood up for Metzineres— the extraordinary plenary session of Ciutat Vella approved, with the support of all municipal groups, a proposal to guarantee that we can remain in the Raval. Barcelona City Council has committed to exploring the public acquisition of the building and to guaranteeing a solution within the neighbourhood. But a commitment is not a purchase: the lease extension ends on 30 September, and no structural solution has yet been secured. We have gained time. Now it is time to turn commitments into action.

This situation is not an isolated case. It is part of a broader dynamic of real estate pressure in El Raval, where gentrification and speculation are driving out residents and the community networks that sustain life in the neighborhood.

Our space is not just a premises: it is a community resource that guarantees basic rights every day for women with no alternatives —food, showers, rest, social and healthcare support, psychological and legal assistance— and where we build bonds of trust and make vital processes possible for those left outside institutional systems.

Since 2017, we have been creating sheltering environments for womxn and gender-expansive people experiencing vulnerability and violence, building community, challenging stigma and defending access to rights through an intersectional feminist approach. What began with five women has grown into a space that more than 700 people have accessed. We have become established as a Specialised Intervention Service for gender-based violence in the city and have been recognised as an international best practice in gender-responsive drug policy, demonstrating that local action can drive advocacy and change at the international level.

We work from a harm reduction approach with a comprehensive perspective, addressing gender-based violence, homelessness, the criminalization of poverty, and severe social exclusion.

For all these reasons, we are calling for an urgent solution from the public administration: a stable space, rooted in the neighborhood and protected from speculation. Because guaranteeing rights cannot depend on the market.

Join us and stand up for Metzineres!