Can Masdeu

Historia

Can Masdeu is a squatted social centre, residence and community garden in the Collserola Park on the outskirts of Barcelona. In 2001, an international group of activists organizing a conference to raise awareness around climate change squatted the former leper hospital, which had been abandoned for some 53 years. The squat became famous in 2002, when squatters in lockons and on tripods nonviolently resisted an eviction. During a three-day standoff, police were unable to remove the squatters, resulting in the case returning to the courts. After three years, the case was won by the owners, but no eviction notice has since been issued.Most Sundays there is an open house and guided tour in which residents explain community living, consensus-based decision-making, ecological gardening and living, and the functioning of the social center. There is a collective meal and from 100 to 300 people come up to participate in free activities related to ecology, activism, and self-sufficiency.The name ''Can Masdeu''Can means "property of" and "Masdeu" comes from the Masdeu family who once inhabited the farmhouse at the center of the valley. Thus, Can Masdeu can refer to any of the following: the masia - a traditional Iberian patriarchal mansion or plantation house the valley, or the community gardens which inhabit it the community of squatters the social center or the ecological project associated with it. the nunnery or leper hospital which once inhabited the masia and the valley.Grounds, location and early historyThe grounds governed by the squat include almost a hectare of land in use as gardens, an abandoned nunnery and hospital facility and about of mostly hilly forests. The building spans four floors and is draped over the side of a hill. It includes 24 different rooms of various sizes including a large hall.