It saddens me to see how the idea of community seems to be on the verge of dying out in favor of a selfish individualism that is dangerous to the very concept of democracy.
I live on the outskirts of my city, in a depersonalized place where I don’t belong and where I often feel alone. I have to take the commuter train to get around and when I need to walk, my only option is to stroll through an open field.
I came here because it was cheap, because I belong to this generation which suffered a merciless economic crisis, this generation which, after finishing its studies and having to start living, becoming independent, undertaking projects of personal and professional life, found herself face to face with a reality which denied her any possibility of a future.
Many emigrated, others of us stayed here, surviving by doing a chain of odd jobs, putting up with them not registering us or forcing us to become falsely independent. But that’s what existed.
I came here, I said, because while rents were rising, our wages were falling, and yet at that time there was still a supply of rentals in the city. We could visit several houses, have time to decide, even discuss with the owners and reach agreements. Yes, make deals!
Am I talking about the Pleistocene? No, I’m talking about a little over a decade ago, before the massive, uncontrolled boom in tourist rentals took over the cities, before big corporations bought up entire blocks of housing to evict the neighbors and replace the population with tourists from the past. Before, a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution, such as the right to benefit from decent and adequate housing, became the concern of a few.
And, along with the neighbors, the neighborhood businesses also disappeared: bakeries, fruit shops, bookstores, hardware stores, workshops, markets… and with them, the community support networks, the social bond and the sense of belonging.
From this suburban apartment where I am still, already with a good job but also stifled by a rent which has increased by 20% in the last two years and to which I allocate more than 60% of my salary, my blood boils seeing the . the inaction of mayors, regional presidents and central government in the face of the greatest crisis we are experiencing in this country
Architect Itziar González has studied how this phenomenon affects our physical and mental health. “Cities were designed to give you home, privacy and a place to connect. The commercialization of cities deprives us not only of our homes, but also of these community spaces. Prioritizing consumption and profit over human activities has an impact on our health and quality of life.
It saddens me to see how the idea of community seems to be disappearing in favor of a selfish individualism dangerous to the very concept of democracy.
But I will not appeal to common sense, I am already cured of fears. I will appeal to the responsibility and obligation of our leaders to respect article 47 of the Spanish Constitution: “All Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing. The public authorities will promote the necessary conditions and establish the relevant rules to make this right effective, regulating the use of land in accordance with the general interest to prevent speculation.
From there, from this suburban apartment where I am still, already with a good job but just as stifled by a rent which has increased by 20% in the last two years and to which I allocate more than 60% of my salary, I makes the blood boil to see the inaction of mayors, regional presidents and the central government in the face of the greatest crisis we know in this country.
I can imagine the pressures and difficulties, I really can, but I’ll tell you something, it’s time to be brave, it’s now or never, because a new 15M is coming and if you want to know how it ends , all you have to do is look around you.
And please, please stop reducing this to a juvenile problem, stop putting unnecessary patches on. Listen to the tenants’ unions, listen to the people and remember this generation of over 40s who can’t take it anymore.
