Barcelona showed all their indignation this Saturday in the face of high rent prices in Spain, during a demonstration which attracted thousands of people. Among them was Andrea that even sharing an apartment, it was impossible for him to be able to afford accommodation in the center of the city.
His feeling, he admitted, is “above all important” since “Despite a full-time and stable job, it is impossible to rent”. In fact, he says he had to “leave the center of Barcelona because it wasn’t viable to pay the rent”: “Now I’m in L’Hospitalet.” Like her, many others find the situation “scandalous”.
The demonstration was called by the Union of Tenants of Catalonia by shouting “Sha, finished!” »: “It’s over for the rentiers, it’s over for them to steal half of our salary every month, it’s over for them to be richer and to have more and more apartments and we we are becoming poorer and poorer,” said Carme Carazo, spokesperson for the organization.
All demand that politicians act in this area: “Either they pull themselves together or they will have to suffer something”“, said one of the demonstrators. Otherwise, another adds: “you’ll have to get up and I’m already a waiter.” In the event that the political class ignores their demands, they warn that justice will be imposed by the tenants. “Let us not hesitate to put an end to the real estate sector, because it is the only solution for housing to truly be a right,” says Marina Parés, spokesperson for the Socialist Housing Union of Catalonia.
Many people struggle to make ends meet. One is Married who reports that he “currently” “shares an apartment with two other roommates.” Together, they pay “1,200 euros”. It is a situation that they describe as shameful and which leads them, they say, to precariousness: “For me, housing is the new slavery of the 20th century,” says another of those who called this Saturday to make housing a right. in Barcelona.
According to the urban police, up to 22,000 people attended the demonstration. They are so fed up with this situation like the one also experienced by Nacho and Jazmín, who are forced to leave the Catalan capital. In fact, Jazmín regrets moving five times this year.
From Andrea to Jazmín, they demand that the rental price be reduced by 50%, contracts of indefinite duration that avoid the fear of the end of the contract, but also recover housing diverted to the tourist market and prohibit purchases only at for speculation purposes, due to lack of supply.
