Resident Seeks €15,000 in Damages and Video Removal

A resident of Badalona has filed a legal claim against Mayor Xavier García Albiol over a video posted in mid-August that has been viewed more than 1.3 million times. The individual, a foreign-born city resident whose face was not blurred, demands that Albiol remove the video from social media, issue a public apology, and pay €15,000 in compensation for what he describes as an 'illegitimate interference' with his fundamental rights to honour and self-image. The lawsuit, which has been assigned to Chamber Five of the Civil Section at Badalona’s court of first instance, requests a conciliation hearing. The resident denies living in the illegally occupied premises that were the focus of Albiol’s video and states he was merely 'casually there' on Don Pelayo Street, chatting with a friend, when the confrontation occurred.

In the video, recorded by Albiol’s team and shared across social media, the mayor is seen confronting several people near the occupied commercial unit in the La Salut neighbourhood. After being challenged over his authority to seal the property without a court order, Albiol engages in a tense exchange with the resident. “You want people who come to work, not people like you,” Albiol says. “In Spain, we don’t want scum like you, we want people who come to work, not to commit crimes and steal.”

The purpose of the publication on social media was not to inform about a specific event, but had a 'promotional' intention favourable to the mayor.

The plaintiff’s legal team, led by lawyer Rafael Mendoza, argues that the video was edited and does not show the full context. They assert that the mayor’s statements were made with a 'pejorative, insulting, and contemptuous intent' and that the widespread dissemination, including on television and in forwarded messages, has caused significant moral harm.

City Council Stands by Albiol, Questions Claimant’s Background

The Badalona City Council has stated it has not yet received official notification of the lawsuit. However, it has confirmed that the video 'will not be removed' and does not accept the basis or amount of the requested compensation. While the council acknowledges it has no personal knowledge of the resident’s circumstances, it disputes his account, noting that 'coincidentally, all the videos on social media in which this person appeared in the premises, at the door, dancing. have been deleted.' The council warns it may retrieve and present those deleted clips as evidence if necessary. The municipal government maintains the video’s sole purpose was to expose the situation of illegal occupation and that Albiol’s remarks must be understood in the context of the heated exchange. It denies any intent to characterise the individual’s legal or professional status based on personal knowledge.

The resident asserts he holds a long-term residence permit, is married to a Spanish citizen, and has two children born in Catalonia. He says he has an extensive work history, no criminal record, and is not under any expulsion order. His legal claim emphasises that he was recorded and identified without consent and that the video’s replication across platforms has subjected him to online abuse. He demands that Albiol retract his statements not only in court but also through the same social media channels used to publish the video. The compensation figure of €15,000 is justified by the scale of dissemination, the number of followers, the duration of the post’s visibility, media replication, and the severity of the language used.

Reported by elperiodico.com, qoshe.com, El Periódico Barcelona.