Cry in Barcelona to protect housing: "Without changes we will never be able to emancipate ourselves"
The protesters claim the opportunity behind the general strike that will be called before the elections of November 29th
BarcelonaPeople camped in the centers of the state's major cities, massive demonstrations, and early elections on November 29. The housing crisis has turned everything upside down in a few weeks, and the tenants' unions are not letting up. And, in fact, they warn: the calling of the elections announced by the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, does not solve the citizens' problem nor does it change the plan to go on a general strike. This Monday they confirmed it, as thousands of protesters took to the streets of Barcelona again to frontally reject speculation and demand the right to housing. A protest that was supposed to take place on Saturday—like in the rest of the state's major cities—but which in Catalonia had to be postponed due to heavy downpours and which gathered 20,000 people according to the Barcelona City Council, 120,000 according to the organizers.
Before the protesters began the march, the ARA reported that there will be a general strike for housing before the Spanish elections on November 29. The major unions, CCOO and UGT, have announced that they support the work stoppage proposed days ago by the tenants' unions, which already had the support of the CGT union on Sunday, according to sources familiar with the talks. The spokesperson for the Tenants' Union, Carme Arcarazo, celebrated the accession and argued that broad consensus is needed to carry out this stoppage. "We want this strike to be a success: we have a very powerful enemy in front of us," she warned. And she added: "We have a month to organize the entire working class of the country."
The demonstration began at Plaça Urquinaona and advanced along Ronda de Sant Pere to Arc de Triomf. When the head of the march reached this point, there were still protesters at the start who had not begun to move due to the large influx of people. To the cry of 'no neighbor out of the neighborhoods', 'guilty landlords, responsible governments' and 'it makes no sense, people without homes and homes without people', they advanced along Passeig de Sant Joan to Plaça Tetuan. The demonstration followed along Gran Via and will end at Passeig de Gràcia, where a call will be made to participate in the encampment at Plaça Catalunya.
The call has engaged people of all kinds and the profile of protesters is quite diverse. Laia, Lucas, and Núria are students and still live at their parents' house, but they did not hesitate to take to the streets this Monday to demonstrate for the right to housing. "This way we will never be able to emancipate ourselves, it is our future," he explains. David, on the other hand, explains that he is a homeowner and that he has come in solidarity with all the people who cannot afford to buy an apartment. "The rents are impossible and luckily I was able to buy an apartment. I am mortgaged for 30 years, mind you," he says. He wants to make it clear that he is one of the few in his group who has been able to buy.
The spokesperson for the Socialist Housing Union of Catalonia, Gisela Bermúdez, has harshly attacked all political leaders and said that "there is no party that really wants to put an end to the housing crisis" because "no party wants to break with the housing business." She also demanded "the expropriation of all apartments" from large holders, banks, and vulture funds; cutting rent prices in half and applying indefinite contracts so that the working class "stops suffering anguish."
The Housing Union Confederation of Catalonia also wanted to point out the role of the Government of the Generalitat in the housing crisis. According to its spokesperson, Marta Espriu, President Illa also has "responsibility" in managing the situation. And, from the PAH, Juanjo Ramón celebrated that "the streets have awakened" and believes it is "a window of opportunity" and "a framework of hope" for everyone who has lost their home in recent years.
They approve the decrees again
The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has confirmed that the Spanish government will approve again on Tuesday the royal decree-laws on housing that were rejected last Friday in the plenary session of Congress –with the votes against from PP, Vox and Junts– but with some variations, although he has assured that they will not lower "any of the protection measures". Specifically, it will re-approve measures such as the ban on evictions until 2030, the extension of rental contracts until December 31, 2028, the regulation of tourist and seasonal rentals or the regulation of vulture funds. "If there is any improvement that can be made, always in the sense of improving protection, we will study it between now and tomorrow," he said.
The two decrees were published last Wednesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and were in force until Friday. During this period, they managed to stop at least a dozen evictions in Barcelona. With one, the possibility of launching so-called indefinite rental contracts lapses: the automatic extensions of contracts, which in some cases would be accompanied by compensation to tenants –if the law is not complied with–, are lost. With the other, a battery of measures disappears, many of them social, also in terms of housing. For example, the moratorium on some evictions for vulnerable families.