A shoemaker from L'Hospitalet commits suicide before being evicted from his shop

Mossos are investigating the death of a 60-year-old man found in his shoemaker's shop in La Florida as a suicide. He had an eviction order for the premises set for October 5.

A 60-year-old man was found dead inside the commercial premises where he worked as a shoemaker, in the La Florida neighbourhood of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating the circumstances as a suicide and have found no signs of criminality.

The deceased, named Javier and originally from Colombia, had an eviction order for the premises scheduled for October 5, 2026. According to judicial sources, he left a written note explaining that he was facing this eviction.

The alarm was raised by a friend of the man, who called 112 around one o'clock in the afternoon on September 30. He was concerned that the shop's shutter, located on Martí i Blasi street, had been partially raised since Tuesday. Officers arrived at the scene and found him dead.

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has confirmed that a court in L'Hospitalet had been processing a lawsuit for non-payment of rent since January 2025. At that time, the tenant had accumulated eight months of unpaid rent.

The lawsuit was admitted for processing in December 2025. After several unsuccessful notification attempts, in May of this year, officials went to the premises and personally informed him of the proceedings. As he did not file any opposition, a decree was issued that concluded the process and set the eviction for October 5. In June, the man went to court and was personally informed of the eviction date. Since then, there has been no request for postponement or any written communication.

The L'Hospitalet City Council has stated that Javier was not listed in any vulnerability situation register nor had he sought assistance from social services. The man was registered at an address in the Bellvitge neighbourhood, although he occasionally slept in the shop, which lacked a bed, bathroom, and personal belongings.

His death coincided with the council's announcement to exercise the right of first refusal to acquire five entire buildings, containing 148 homes, one of which houses the shoemaker's shop. The operation, valued at 27 million euros pending independent appraisal, aims to prevent the properties from passing to an investment fund and to add them to the public housing stock. The current owner is a family real estate company negotiating the sale with a fund.

The council claims it has been working on these plans since November 2025, but that budget stability rules prevented it from allocating the necessary resources.

Housing collectives and unions have linked this case to that of Olga, a resident of L'Hospitalet who committed suicide less than a month ago after being evicted in April. The city, the second most populated in Catalonia with nearly 300,000 inhabitants, will host a demonstration for the right to housing on Saturday afternoon, called by social entities.