Stop the evictions! Housing is
a human right!
Protest in solidarity with people evicted in Spain
Monday, March 18th in front of the Spanish Embassy (22 Avenue
Marceau, 75008 Paris)
In 2012 alone, 200,000 families in Spain were forcibly evicted from
their homes, amounting to 526 expulsions every day. This drastic policy of
eviction provoked a wave of suicides among people who had fallen deeply into
debt; indeed 34% of all completed suicides in Spain are linked to issues
relating to housing and mortgage debt. This social catastrophe is the direct
result of poor real estate forecasting, the rupture of the housing bubble,
austere policies, and the massive rise in unemployment rates (which rest at 27%
percent for the workforce and at over 50% for Spanish youth).
Austerity measures, a clever euphemism for the numerous neo-liberal
policies seeking to destroy social rights and gains (including many public
services and social protections), have seized almost all of Europe and other
parts of the world. These policies have been shaken by the subsequent housing
crisis, and by abysmal real estate and base rent forecasting. Traditional
policies regulating rent rates, the housing and rent markets, are beginning to
be challenged and re-examined.
As a direct result of these severe situations, citizens are organizing
and mobilizing:
A strong social movement has traditionally existed in Spain with the
Platform of People Affected by the Mortgage Crisis (PAH), which groups together
victims of severe housing debt. On February 16th, responding to a
public call by the PAH, hundreds of millions of protesters took to the streets
to demand an end to the evictions, a full expunging of accrued debts, and the
creation of massive socialized and public rental accommodations.
A petition, boasting 1.4 million signatures, forced the Spanish
Parliament to examine the proposed legal reform presented by the PAH.
The fight will continue in the coming weeks and months, as the current
head of the Spanish Government, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, has refused to
integrate the forgiveness of obligations accrued by indebted families into the
proposed law, a condition central the demands of the PAH.
In France, 115,000 eviction notices were issued in 2011, while 2.4
million lodgings remain ironically vacant. The cost of housing has never been
as high as it is today, and the imminent and imposing housing bubble could
explode at any moment. Laws created to respect and support citizens in housing
crises are not being respect, including the DALO law, the right to adequate
accommodations, the Law of Requisition of Vacant Housing, etc.
The movements of citizens in housing crises, together with the
association Droit au Logement (DAL), have made considerable advances and, while
waiting for the application of the Law of Requisition of Vacant Housing, have
occupied and reclaimed empty lodgings. In Paris, in the 10th
arrondissement, families in dire need and youth who are facing significant
hardship have reclaimed and requisitioned an empty building on Rue de Valencienne,
a building which belongs to a rich Spanish developer (who is demanding their
expulsion).
The movements and protests of people in housing crises, the evicted, the
tenants, and the deeply indebted, are organizing and expanding across Europe
and the rest of the world.
In solidarity with the millions of families wrongfully and maliciously
evicted in Spain, and following the example of the protest successfully
executed by the PAH, the DAL is calling for massive and united gatherings and
protests in all European Capitals, in front of their respective Spanish
Embassies.
In Paris, The protest will take place in front of the Spanish Embassy
from 5:00 PM, at 22 Avenue Marceau in the 8th
arrondissement.
DAL-AssociationDroitauLogement,
France
* To download the statement, click here.