Spanish State: The Struggle for Livable Housing Continues

Featured image: Protests in Madrid. Source: Instagram @mis_fotos_de_madrid

We have previously reported on the ongoing protests for livable housing in Spain that were sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman living on 50% disability despite the attempts of at least 400 activists outside her residence to prevent the eviction by protest.

In the face of the massive protests she was given back her apartment, and the Tenant’s Union brought in the demand for what they call the “Maricarmen Decree.” Among the demands one central point is ending the limitation of rent contracts to 5 years and making them indefinite.

The government has proposed 2 decrees under this name but without an iota of its content, which were rejected by the parliament on Friday. Servir al Pueblo has analyzed these proposals, stating that the first one boils down to a marketing tactic and empty promises that would not resolve the problem, even if they were applied, adding:

“And what happens if the renter does not want to sign a contract with illegal clauses? The owner will tell them that there are 30 more people waiting to see the flat. And the renter, made desperate by the dramatic situation of looking for housing, is obliged to jump through all hoops. The same happens with those who are already renting. An extension of the rent contract, in the best of cases, pushes the problem into the future. Two years later the problem will be the same or worse, as rent costs do not stop increasing. Even still, if the owner wants to throw out the renter, that is what they will do. They have many measures at hand to do so. From pretending they have a family member that is going to live there, to sending out an eviction company.”

The second decree previews the automatic extension of rent contracts, but not indefinite contracts. Servir al Pueblo highlights that the landlords can also use this distinction to throw out renters. Viewing this as another in a series of empty promises by the government they go on to say:

“The people are tired of their lies and does not believe in this government whatsoever. A government that promised ‘prohibition of evictions’ during the pandemic but continued with thousands of evictions every month. A government that claimed ‘No to NATO’ but ended up staying in the Atlantic Alliance and has increased military spending. A government that said it would repeal the Gag Law [translator’s note: A law severely limiting the right to protest], but never did. A government of ‘inclusion’, but under whose rule racist attacks on migrants skyrocketed and the criminal Immigration Law wasn’t changed one iota. A feminist government that didn’t lift a finger to guarantee women’s right to abortion, protect abused women, or prosecute pimps to combat prostitution. Nearly eight years after its term began, things are worse in every respect: housing, education, healthcare, warmongering, militarization, and repression…”

They call to throw out parliamentarian illusions from the movement for housing, and the protests were indeed not stopped by these measures. The protest camp of Puerta del Sol in Madrid has continued to grow into its fifth night to around 2.000 people. This camp has served as a meeting point of different popular struggles, especially mobilizing young people. In a second article Servir al Pueblo has highlighted three victories the camp has already obtained:

“Firstly it is politicizing tens of thousands of young people in all of the country. The second victory is that it has extended to more cities: There is already a camp in Barcelona (Plaça Catalunya). The third is that the housing movement will have a ‘hot autumn’ with many mobilizations.”

They then analyze three groups of enemies the protests are currently facing. Firstly, reactionary and fascists, giving the example of a provocateur who was beaten and chased out of the camp. Secondly, infiltrated agents of social democracy and the union bureaucracy trying to traffic with the struggle, and thirdly, the bourgeois media trying to paint the combative youth as simple delinquents and criminals. They close saying: “The youth has said: Enough. The youth wants to fight”.

We have shared a translation of a report of the first week of actions in the camp by Servir al Pueblo.