The anti-eviction hero from Ciutat Meridiana who now faces losing his apartment

BarcelonaThe story of Juanjo Hernández is the story of the real estate crisis. This 56-year-old resident of Ciudad Meridiana—the poorest neighborhood in Barcelona—has experienced every chapter of the housing drama firsthand: the rising prices of the bubble, buying an apartment at the worst possible time, the outbreak of the housing crisis in 2008, the skyrocketing Euribor that made vulture funds more expensive, and now, the rental crisis. And it's no coincidence, nor is it bad luck. Since the real estate crisis of 2008, this peripheral neighborhood of Barcelona is called by the nickname of Villa Deshaucio.

After twelve years of fighting to avoid losing the apartment where he's lived for 25 years, two weeks ago Juanjo faced eviction. But far from going unnoticed, like his neighborhood, nearly two hundred neighbors from all over Barcelona mobilized to form a blockade in front of his doorway and prevent the police and the judicial procession from entering. And they succeeded, at least for the time being: after three hours of resistance, the courts decided to postpone the eviction until May 28th. "I'm full of love and solidarity. This is what the warmth of the people makes you feel," he says, still moved, days later.

The support Juanjo received was no coincidence either. His story is well-known, and his fight has been steadfast for years. "He was also at my door during my eviction." This was one of the phrases most repeated by the neighbors who came to support him, and they now call him an "icon" of the fight for housing in Ciutat Meridiana. Others don't know him as well, but they also came to support him because they live in Villa Deshaucio —with the record number of evictions in Barcelona—Juanjo's story, unfortunately, is also yours.

Juanjo's, he says, is the story of a normal working-class family. "I lived in Torre Baró, in one of those houses that were built overnight and that cinema has now made so famous," he explains in the ARA, quoting the film. The 47"When we decided to be parents, we bought an apartment in the only place we could, in Ciutat Meridiana," he continues. That was in 2000, a time when "everyone was buying" and the bubble was silently preparing for a historic burst. In 2008, when he separated, he remortgaged to avoid losing the apartment. It was a bad time. "At first, I was paying 500 euros on the mortgage, but the Euribor started to rise, and rise... and in a short time, the payment doubled," Juanjo recalls. Later, the crisis left him jobless. "It was a double fall on the ground, without work and with the payment being very high," he admits. And the debts kept growing.

"I experienced it very badly, with great anxiety. The law on payment in kind was in its infancy, and everyone told me: 'Don't miss a single payment or the bank won't accept it.'". I asked friends for help, I did everything," he still recalls, anguished. And he succeeded. He made the dation (giving the apartment to the bank in exchange for forgiveness of the debt) and continued paying rent. Then the bank sold the apartment to a fund, and since then he's already paid the four years. "I've spent four more than what the funds have paid for my apartment," Juanjo calculates. Currently, the owner is Divarian, the real estate agency of the Cerberus investment fund.

In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Juanjo was told that they wouldn't renew his contract. First, he took out an extension due to COVID and then he left, then he left, then he left, but ... "Many years!" he says tiredly. "But the problem isn't me, the problem is housing, and politicians should see that it's not normal that on any given Thursday there are five evictions in Nou Barris," he claims. eviction is approaching, and the situation is getting more complicated for him: a slight increase of thirty euros in his income has led the administration to deny him the right to be vulnerable. "Do we want our children to have an education or for us to have healthcare if we don't have a roof over our heads?" he concludes.