Between the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the former military barracks of Torras i Bages, in Barcelona’s Sant Andreu district, became a space as precarious as it was alive. Abandoned by the authorities, it was soon inhabited by more than a thousand people from thirty-three nationalities—a self-made community that, amid decay, wove fragile ties of survival and dignity.

In 2004, its story ended with eviction and demolition. Shortly after, the land was destined for private housing developments, while, only a short distance away, the Barcelona Fòrum de les Cultures was being inaugurated under the banner of dialogue and coexistence.

This photographic series revisits that contrast. Through traces, spaces, and absences, it reflects on urban memory and the paradox of a city that celebrates diversity while erasing the presence of those who embodied it in silence.