The neighbors of the Papallona block start a rent strike against the fund that wants to evict them

The Papallona block in the Esquerra de l'Eixample neighborhood is taking a step forward in its resistance against the investment fund New Amsterdam Developers (NAD) with an indefinite rent strike. 17 residents from 4 of the 6 inhabited apartments have joined, organized with the Socialist Housing Union of Catalonia, and they hope that the remaining tenants will also end up joining. Their goal is to get the Barcelona City Council to expropriate the building on Llança Street at "zero profit," meaning that the purchase should be made at the price the fund acquired the property for, points out Anna Olesti, a resident of the block and spokesperson for the union in Eixample. The mobilized neighbors are also demanding indefinite contracts and the conversion of the current empty apartments into social housing.

The strike comes after two and a half years of struggle, since NAD bought the building with the neighbors inside. The fund's intention is to create co-living spaces –seasonal rooms with shared areas–, which forces the tenants to leave, but about twenty are still resisting. Olesti describes it as a "covert hotel". "They want to evict us and we don't owe a single cent," she says, and insists that "we will not leave, we will strike until they leave". Thus, the union calls on collectives and neighbors to support their cause to become "a spearhead against speculation".

The spokesperson also recalls the "real estate harassment" they suffered with the remodeling works that NAD started, and which architecturally damaged the iconic modernist block –officially called Casa Fajol–, easily identifiable by the large butterfly that shines on the upper part of the façade. The City Council has confirmed to ARA that it has three urban discipline proceedings open against NAD for having carried out works without a permit or not adjusted to the conditions and for having caused damage.

Corina Cost is another of the affected neighbors who will stop paying rent. She has lived in the Butterfly block since 2008 with her children, who are now 14 and 17 years old, and with her husband, who has a total permanent disability. She assures that, if it were up to her, she would not have been able to cope with the pressure from the fund and would easily have "fallen into depression". That is why she celebrates the support of the young people in the building and the union organization, and she is not satisfied with the renewal of the current contracts, since it would leave them "in the same vulnerable situation in a few years". "We are stronger than ever," she says hopefully.

Cycle of mobilizations

Cost also remembers the latest mortal victims of the housing crisis: Olga and Javier in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Maricarmen in Madrid. These episodes have driven the cycle of mobilizations that leads to the general strike on November 11th: "We will go on general strike –Cost assures–, because if anyone can implement effective measures it is ourselves, not the political parties that have been rolling out the red carpet for vulture funds for years".

At this moment there are three judicial eviction proceedings open, although they still do not have any date in sight. With the announcement of the rent strike, organized neighbors are on alert for possible reprisals, but they remain firm. "We will carry this forward", maintains Olesti.

No negotiation

Sources from the city council have shared with ARA that "New Amsterdam Developers has always refused to negotiate regarding the Papallona block", despite the mediation process that began in April, in which the Socialist Housing Union and the Ombudsman of Barcelona are also participating.