Barcelona Offers Hotel Stay to Homeless Cancer Patient, Seeks Permanent Housing

"It’s good news, but the important thing will be to see if on Monday they offer him an apartment where he can live and follow his treatment," Yassine told El Diario by phone. The 37-year-old Moroccan, suffering from colon cancer, was still in front of the Barcelona Social Emergency Center (CUESB) where he was informed of the decision of the Barcelona municipal council to ensure his accommodation.

The councilor in charge of social action at the municipal council, Sonia Fuertes, announced a meeting on Monday with the agents of the Service for Attention to Immigrants, Emigrants and Refugees (SAIER) to "assess in detail how he (Yassine) is doing, what he needs and where we can accommodate him," stressing that the municipal council does not have the means to "provide a comprehensive response" to this type of case. "The social services are not prepared to accommodate homeless people with cancer," she laments.

Arrived in Spain from Tetouan, Morocco nine months ago, the young man spends his nights under the stairs, a kind of storeroom, in a building located in the "Poble-sec" district, where there is neither electricity nor running water. Initially, he was living with a sister who later asked him to leave. Shortly afterwards, he began to feel stomach pains that led him to the hospital where he underwent an operation.