Catalan term (edited): desinfecten Barcelona i em trasllado a Berl�n

If the author felt that the authorities were closing down things he or she loved, such as "Okupa" houses, buskers' areas, etc, then maybe this is what he or she meant by the term "disinfecting". If you think this might be the case, you could put "disinfecting" in italics.

"Cleaning" the streets of the subcultures that now inhabit them has become a priority task for the current Mayor, Joan Clos. Obviously, if you form part of one of these subcultures, you do not feel it is cleaning or disinfecting, but destroying a sign of the city's vitality.

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Note added at 45 mins (2005-09-26 18:22:31 GMT)
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Depending on your register you could even say: ".... so I pissed off to Berlin" or "....so I got my shit together and moved to Berlin" - adding a sort of ironic comment on the disinfecting.

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Note added at 50 mins (2005-09-26 18:27:40 GMT)
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After reading Sheila's link I am even more convinced that this artist identifies herself with the counter culture and that disinfect is her ironic comment on the City Hall of Barcelona's attempts to "clean up" the city.

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Note added at 2 hrs 18 mins (2005-09-26 19:55:27 GMT)
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Hi Laia, "disinfect" would not sound so strange at all. I'm sure most people would read it as a stronger form of "cleaning up" - which in fact you might even fancy substituting if you really feel uncomfortable with disinfect, though I argue it would be fine.