The owner leased a house to a businessman connected to several owners and Barcelona restaurants. In May 2020, during the height of the pandemic, the residence covered an area of about 450 square meters in a Maresme municipality. The affected party requested that certain details remain confidential. A few months later, the tenant, who appeared to be struggling to make ends meet, stopped paying monthly rent, accumulating unpaid sums that reached roughly 96,000 euros after four months of missed payments at 4,000 euros each.
The mounting unpaid rent prompted the property owner to pursue eviction proceedings to reclaim possession from a tenant who had failed to meet financial obligations. The businessman engaged a lawyer who managed to prolong the legal process for about a year. He actively challenged the eviction by contesting the civil lawsuit notices required to proceed with the eviction. After two years without payment, the court ordered the tenant to repurchase the property, offsetting the unpaid rental fees against the sale, culminating in a deduction of 96,000 euros from the total owed. This sequence underscores the slow motion of eviction cases and the strategic use of legal rights by the tenant.
‘Closed’ Cultivation
Last Thursday, following standard procedures, delegated authorities returned to the property to finalize its return to the rightful owner. When the locksmith opened the door, investigators uncovered an alarming use of the residence — the creation of a large concealed cannabis cultivation area. The discovery revealed an extensive marijuana operation within the home, with an additional processed product noted on site. The moment the door opened, two guards fled through the garden in fear.
The plantation occupied an entire floor of the house. To maximize usable space, interior partitions had been demolished, leaving the interior as a wide, open nave. It is alleged that a ventilation or water source was dug underground to sustain the facility, illustrating a deliberate effort to conceal both the construction and the operation from view.
The authorities alerted the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police. An investigation was launched to locate the restaurant entrepreneur behind the operation. Public health officials assessed the site as a fortified cultivation setup with reinforced walls, and there is suspicion that the individual may have conducted similar activities previously. The legal process, which favored the swifter resolution of the case, drew criticism from the owner’s attorney for its slow pace, arguing that the tenant benefited from more than a year of the delay to cultivate cannabis at the residence. The owner seeks compensation for unpaid rent and the substantial restoration costs needed to return the home to its prior condition.
May 2020 marked a notable moment in this narrative, illustrating how cannabis operations can intersect with rental disputes and property rights. The owner’s legal counsel emphasized the financial and structural damages inflicted on the property, underscoring the burden borne by landlords when tenants fail to meet obligations and venture into illegal activities within their dwellings.
Cannabis Explosion
For years, cannabis cultivation has emerged as a challenge across Catalonia, with urban residences and industrial warehouses increasingly serving as cultivation sites for producers. In the Maresme case, rent defaults went hand in hand with illicit activity, evidencing how some tenants exploit properties to sustain illegal cannabis operations. The sustainability of such ventures often hinges on continued, undetected payment streams that hide broader criminal networks from view.
The cannabis phenomenon intensified around 2015, spreading to Catalonia and beyond in Spain. Authorities—police and prosecutors—have raised alarms about the health, economic, and democratic consequences of this black market. Unregulated cultivation can lead to high-THC seed varieties that raise health risks and contribute to unfair competition among workers. It can also involve money laundering schemes that threaten the integrity of local institutions. Studies conducted by public safety authorities have indicated that large-scale operations can provide opportunities to corrupt public officials and law enforcement, creating a broader sense of risk for communities and governance. The Maresme case serves as a stark example of how illicit cultivation can take root in residential settings and impact public safety and economic stability.