CONTINUE
Assad did not reach 40 years, although he had spent a decade in the open had deteriorated his appearance. His body appeared this morning with signs of violence in the ATM on Calle Horta in Barcelona, where he lived poorly. He always had a carton of wine, and headphones on to listen to music, so he didn't stop dancing. "He had never given any problem," many residents of the neighborhood explain to ABC.
Now the Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating the causes of his death, hoping that the results of the autopsy will determine if there was an attack. The neighbors found out in the morning, when they saw the police use and the cordon that prevented them from approaching the place. He had been living in this neighborhood of the Catalan capital for years.
“He never messed with anyone. The last night I saw him, he was covered with a blanket, and he let me in to get money,” says Pau Álvarez, at the door of the bank branch.
At his side, Julia, now retired, corroborates the young man's story. “It didn't give any problem. She was always with her carton of wine and dancing with her headphones on”. On that same cardboard they have left candles and red roses. Gloria has deposited one of them, almost crying. "She always saw Him when she passed by, always singing," she explained.
The residents of Horta mill around in disbelief, and the commentator repeats: “Always drinking, dancing and wearing helmets”, but not a single altercation in all these years. “It's a shame, living on the street is synonymous with death foretold, but you're still a human being…” Monica muses, in front of a clothing store near the cashier, whose wall reads: “Hasta Siempre, Assad. Rest easy neighbor."
“Being on the street means taking that risk. Fights and assaults ensued. Something that would not happen indoors”, lamented Ferran Busquets, president of Arrels. An entity that cares for homeless people in Barcelona, 46 percent of whom claim to have been victims of some type of violence, whether physical or verbal, while sleeping rough.
So far this year, ten homeless people have died in Barcelona. Meaning one death every nine days. Of them, five were on the street.
