Daniel Cole

Spain's autonomous region of Catalonia has suffered the country's largest increase in evictions, up 10.5% in 2018 from the previous year. José García Duran is a 24/7 on call locksmith who carries out eviction orders in Barcelona. Through his work, Jose is a witness to an ever-present housing crisis. Mass tourism, gentrification, and stagnant wages have left the most vulnerable families exposed to the threat of eviction. As the person called upon to open and then secure properties, Jose performs evictions at the hands of real estate companies and private owners who want to oust their tenants. Behind every door he opens Jose does not know what awaits him and he carries the weight of this reality with him. Most cases are families that cannot afford to pay a rising rent and have no where else to go, however, Jose has dealt with cases that fall on either end of a complicated moral scale. As a seventh generation locksmith, his work is his trade and his way of life. With every family Jose evicts, his own family life takes a toll. Jose lives a constant struggle to justify the devastating consequences of his work as a supposedly neutral actor.