Bilbao City Council Accused of Pressuring Social Workers in Evictions

50 social workers and the Bilbao Housing Union criticize the municipal stance for forcing their participation in evictions and the dismissal of two employees.

Generic image of documents and a pen symbolizing bureaucracy and urban issues.
IA

Generic image of documents and a pen symbolizing bureaucracy and urban issues.

Fifty social workers in Bilbao and the Bilbao Housing Union have denounced the city council's pressure to force their participation in evictions, revealing the dismissal of two employees for refusing, during a press conference held on April 16, 2026.

During the press conference, they pointed to the Bilbao City Council and its policies as responsible for exacerbating the situation of misery in the city. They particularly highlighted an eviction carried out last October in a municipal pavilion in Zorrotzaurre, where about 80 people were expelled without guarantees or stable housing alternatives. In this process, two social intervention workers refused to collaborate in the eviction, which resulted in the loss of their jobs. As explained in the appearance, after the eviction, the building was transferred by the city council to the Mondragon Corporation.

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In this context, social intervention professionals have reported working under increasingly suffocating conditions. Excessive bureaucratic burden, lack of resources, and contradictory orders received from institutions are daily realities in the sector. They assert that these conditions force them into an intermediary role between the most vulnerable people and political decisions that perpetuate their state of helplessness. Furthermore, they have stated that they face pressure during evictions to perform duties that go against their convictions and are outside the scope of their responsibilities.
At the press conference, they warned about the increasing number of people in vulnerable situations in Bilbao and the collapse of resources allocated to help them. They criticized the city council for not strengthening the necessary resources in the face of increased migration, evictions, and severe situations of helplessness. They also provided a worrying statistic: in 2016, 112 people lived on the streets in the Bizkaia capital, and by 2024, this figure had risen to over 600. Faced with this situation, they affirmed that they would not place the responsibility for misery on those who suffer it. Additionally, they asserted their right to refuse to perform functions that are not their responsibility and rejected participation in evictions.