Large European cities have increasingly become the target of property and real estate speculators. Land and rent fees are rising so fast that the average citizen is being priced out of the market. Nowhere is this as obvious as in the Catalonian capital of Barcelona, one of the most beautiful European cities. But Catalans are living up to their reputation for vociferous insurgence. They refuse to accept this expansion any longer. Young people are following the example of the generation of ’68. They are taking the law into their own hands.
00:00:10:00
It was a balancing act that worked well for a long time. The Makabra project was the showpiece of the alternative culture scene in Barcelona. The artists who occupied factory sites and prepared themselves for a circus career were known all over Spain. The atmosphere of openness and creativity here became legendary. And then, it all fell apart.
10:00:40:00 – 10:00:45:00
No more room for squatters, no more space for alternative lifestyles.
10:00:53:00 – 10:01:04:00
Each new demolition gave rise to frustration and violence. The centre of Barcelona has a tradition of riots and clashes. Over the last year alone, one hundred and fifty houses were razed to the ground.
10:01:10:00 – 10:01:40:00
The housing problem is Europe wide and Catalans are following developments in France with interest. There, the plight of the homeless has been successfully brought out into the open political arena.
A French political activist has come to Barcelona to report on the outcome of the French “A Roof over your Head” campaign. In Spain as in France, both young and old are equally uneasy about the situation.
10:01:44:00 – 10:02:08:00 (Alberto Sancho, VDevivienda, Squatter)
In our movement, you will find people who cannot make a down payment on an ordinary flat. They are cannot afford to pay a mortgage. They want to move away from living with their parents. But the bank will not give them credit.
All we ask for is legal recognition of the right to appropriate habitation. We have to focus political attention on us and finally make ourselves heard.
10:02:15:00 – 10::02:35:00
As far as the eye can reach, there are hardly any areas available for new buildings. And yet, it is hard to find an affordable flat. Spain has not been able to develop a well-organized rental market. Ninety per cent of apartments available are freehold flats, a record in Europe. But real estate projects in the country are often purely property ventures.
10:02:40:00 – 10:03:00:00
The cost of flats is increasingly unaffordable for young people. The rise in prices is also linked to the image of Barcelona as a show window for tourism. The government has stood by and watched passively as prices have gone up by one hundred and fifty per cent since 1998. A quarter of the population cannot afford suitable accommodation.
10:03:08:00 – 10:03:34:00 (Gerardo Pisarello, Department of Constitutional Law, Barcelona University)
There are approximately three million flats and houses lying empty in Spain. In the province of Barcelona, more than four hundred thousand apartments are unoccupied.
Social housing, as well as affordable rented accommodation for the average wage earner, is lacking in Spain. No longer is it just the working classes or the younger generation who are in this plight. It is also people from the middle classes who are increasingly being faced with serious housing problems.
10:03:40:00 – 10:03:54:00
As soon as one house is vacated – another one will be occupied. Squatters are the downside of the Spanish property boom. The number of houses occupied by squatters is growing from day to day. And ever more are ready to risk a hiding for their actions…
10:03:57:00 – 10:04:03:00
The state is conscious of the wide publicity they are getting and we are caught in between the two sides.
10:04:13:00 – 10:04:27:00
We are visiting a house, hours before an eviction. The clearing gang are becoming ever more crafty and sly. Their latest strategy is to carry out immediate dispossessions, without giving any notice. The squatters risk having everything they own ending up on the rubbish heap.
10:04:30:00 – 10:04:44:00 (Marcela, squatter)
“I have lived here for two years. Early this morning, a mate phoned me and said I should come over, as I had not stayed here overnight. As I arrived, there were the police, people gawping at us, our furniture was lying on the road – we were chucked out.”
10:04:46:00 – 10:05:00:00 (Man)
“Several of those squatting in this house have not occupied it out of necessity. They have possessions. They come from good houses. They want a simple alternative life, to be happy after their own fashion, nothing more.”
10:05:10:00 – 10:05:31:00
A former hospital on the outskirts of Barcelona.. This building has been occupied for the last five years. Thirty people live here. Leftists, opponents of globalisation, anarchists, students, the unemployed, street performers and immigrants – those who cannot afford rent on any apartment. You won’t find any children from affluent homes here.
10:05:36:00 – 10:05:49:00
The occupiers come from all parts of the world. The scene is as international as the United Nations Plenary Assembly.
They have all lost legal proceedings. However they relish the mutual support and sympathy they get from their neighbours.
They live for the moment.
10:05:52:00 – 10:06:14:00 (Alvaro, squatter)
“What we want is to get legislation passed for appropriate housing. In addition we follow alternative lifestyles, following our own ideas. We are simply not interested in the consumer behaviour of the rest of the world. We want to get by with little money. We want to work but not to rake in fortunes, to use energy sparingly, to make our lives worth living”.
10:06:25:00 – 10:06:46:00
Life is substantially tougher for squatters here in the centre of Barcelona. Development sites are worth a lot of money. This house has been earmarked to give way to a hotel. From the original twenty three households that lived here, only two remain. The others were told to leave explains Blasina Tapia, one of the last remaining tenants.
10:06:54:00 – 10:07:02:00
She has brought up seven sons. But now she anticipates being thrown out at any time. She is an unwitting squatter against her own will.
10:07:06:00 –10:07:27:00 (Blasina Tapia Perez, tenant)
“We have been here for seventeen years. The house was sold four years ago. A hotel will be built here and we have nowhere else to go. We to court years ago. We can’t afford to rent anywhere, on my husband’s small pension, we are going to end up on the streets. We are on social welfare. I have become sick worrying over this situation.”
10:07:29:00 – 10:07:48:00
Cases like this have startled the government in Barcelona and given them food for thought. A new law is being passed that has angered some property owners. Soon, every apartment that has been lying empty for longer than six months will be compulsorily rented out.
There has been a lot of hearsay about living space circulating in the past.
10:07:50:00 – 10:08:14:00 (Carmen Trilla, Housing Department, Barcelona)
“This is a characteristically Spanish problem. To all intents and purposes, we have built virtually no public sector buildings for the socially disadvantaged. Other European countries have on average eighteen per cent of their area at their disposal for subsidised housing. In Spain, this proportion is practically zero per cent. That makes it very challenging for us to accelerate social welfare housing.”
10:08:20:00 – 10:08:39:00
Although in many cases their actions are not clearly understood, the Barcelona squatters are forcing the government’s hand. The moral courage of the young Catalans has been worth its while. The campaign for the right to appropriate housing is finally arousing ever more public attention.
00:00:10:00
It was a balancing act that worked well for a long time. The Makabra project was the showpiece of the alternative culture scene in Barcelona. The artists who occupied factory sites and prepared themselves for a circus career were known all over Spain. The atmosphere of openness and creativity here became legendary. And then, it all fell apart.
10:00:40:00 – 10:00:45:00
No more room for squatters, no more space for alternative lifestyles.
10:00:53:00 – 10:01:04:00
Each new demolition gave rise to frustration and violence. The centre of Barcelona has a tradition of riots and clashes. Over the last year alone, one hundred and fifty houses were razed to the ground.
10:01:10:00 – 10:01:40:00
The housing problem is Europe wide and Catalans are following developments in France with interest. There, the plight of the homeless has been successfully brought out into the open political arena.
A French political activist has come to Barcelona to report on the outcome of the French “A Roof over your Head” campaign. In Spain as in France, both young and old are equally uneasy about the situation.
10:01:44:00 – 10:02:08:00 (Alberto Sancho, VDevivienda, Squatter)
In our movement, you will find people who cannot make a down payment on an ordinary flat. They are cannot afford to pay a mortgage. They want to move away from living with their parents. But the bank will not give them credit.
All we ask for is legal recognition of the right to appropriate habitation. We have to focus political attention on us and finally make ourselves heard.
10:02:15:00 – 10::02:35:00
As far as the eye can reach, there are hardly any areas available for new buildings. And yet, it is hard to find an affordable flat. Spain has not been able to develop a well-organized rental market. Ninety per cent of apartments available are freehold flats, a record in Europe. But real estate projects in the country are often purely property ventures.
10:02:40:00 – 10:03:00:00
The cost of flats is increasingly unaffordable for young people. The rise in prices is also linked to the image of Barcelona as a show window for tourism. The government has stood by and watched passively as prices have gone up by one hundred and fifty per cent since 1998. A quarter of the population cannot afford suitable accommodation.
10:03:08:00 – 10:03:34:00 (Gerardo Pisarello, Department of Constitutional Law, Barcelona University)
There are approximately three million flats and houses lying empty in Spain. In the province of Barcelona, more than four hundred thousand apartments are unoccupied.
Social housing, as well as affordable rented accommodation for the average wage earner, is lacking in Spain. No longer is it just the working classes or the younger generation who are in this plight. It is also people from the middle classes who are increasingly being faced with serious housing problems.
10:03:40:00 – 10:03:54:00
As soon as one house is vacated – another one will be occupied. Squatters are the downside of the Spanish property boom. The number of houses occupied by squatters is growing from day to day. And ever more are ready to risk a hiding for their actions…
10:03:57:00 – 10:04:03:00
The state is conscious of the wide publicity they are getting and we are caught in between the two sides.
10:04:13:00 – 10:04:27:00
We are visiting a house, hours before an eviction. The clearing gang are becoming ever more crafty and sly. Their latest strategy is to carry out immediate dispossessions, without giving any notice. The squatters risk having everything they own ending up on the rubbish heap.
10:04:30:00 – 10:04:44:00 (Marcela, squatter)
“I have lived here for two years. Early this morning, a mate phoned me and said I should come over, as I had not stayed here overnight. As I arrived, there were the police, people gawping at us, our furniture was lying on the road – we were chucked out.”
10:04:46:00 – 10:05:00:00 (Man)
“Several of those squatting in this house have not occupied it out of necessity. They have possessions. They come from good houses. They want a simple alternative life, to be happy after their own fashion, nothing more.”
10:05:10:00 – 10:05:31:00
A former hospital on the outskirts of Barcelona.. This building has been occupied for the last five years. Thirty people live here. Leftists, opponents of globalisation, anarchists, students, the unemployed, street performers and immigrants – those who cannot afford rent on any apartment. You won’t find any children from affluent homes here.
10:05:36:00 – 10:05:49:00
The occupiers come from all parts of the world. The scene is as international as the United Nations Plenary Assembly.
They have all lost legal proceedings. However they relish the mutual support and sympathy they get from their neighbours.
They live for the moment.
10:05:52:00 – 10:06:14:00 (Alvaro, squatter)
“What we want is to get legislation passed for appropriate housing. In addition we follow alternative lifestyles, following our own ideas. We are simply not interested in the consumer behaviour of the rest of the world. We want to get by with little money. We want to work but not to rake in fortunes, to use energy sparingly, to make our lives worth living”.
10:06:25:00 – 10:06:46:00
Life is substantially tougher for squatters here in the centre of Barcelona. Development sites are worth a lot of money. This house has been earmarked to give way to a hotel. From the original twenty three households that lived here, only two remain. The others were told to leave explains Blasina Tapia, one of the last remaining tenants.
10:06:54:00 – 10:07:02:00
She has brought up seven sons. But now she anticipates being thrown out at any time. She is an unwitting squatter against her own will.
10:07:06:00 –10:07:27:00 (Blasina Tapia Perez, tenant)
“We have been here for seventeen years. The house was sold four years ago. A hotel will be built here and we have nowhere else to go. We to court years ago. We can’t afford to rent anywhere, on my husband’s small pension, we are going to end up on the streets. We are on social welfare. I have become sick worrying over this situation.”
10:07:29:00 – 10:07:48:00
Cases like this have startled the government in Barcelona and given them food for thought. A new law is being passed that has angered some property owners. Soon, every apartment that has been lying empty for longer than six months will be compulsorily rented out.
There has been a lot of hearsay about living space circulating in the past.
10:07:50:00 – 10:08:14:00 (Carmen Trilla, Housing Department, Barcelona)
“This is a characteristically Spanish problem. To all intents and purposes, we have built virtually no public sector buildings for the socially disadvantaged. Other European countries have on average eighteen per cent of their area at their disposal for subsidised housing. In Spain, this proportion is practically zero per cent. That makes it very challenging for us to accelerate social welfare housing.”
10:08:20:00 – 10:08:39:00
Although in many cases their actions are not clearly understood, the Barcelona squatters are forcing the government’s hand. The moral courage of the young Catalans has been worth its while. The campaign for the right to appropriate housing is finally arousing ever more public attention.