One of the things that the far right has copied from socialism is internationalization. The sovereignists who constantly denounce the globalization of culture have global networks to raise funds and develop the discourse. Thus, there are messages or strategies that we see all over the world, such as the questioning of electoral processes, the idealization of the rural world or anti-migrant discourse. The Spanish far right broke the coalition governments with the PP on the reception of unaccompanied minors, trying to assimilate the usual discourses in France, Germany and the Netherlands. The vice-president of Castilla y León drew up a panorama for Palencia or Zamora similar to that of Brussels or Paris. The reality is that their community had to take in two children.
The disadvantage of the Spanish far right in copying these foreign speeches is Spain. It is difficult to present yourself as a countercultural and transgressive party when you were born in the center of the system. The harsh anti-immigrant discourse also has a problem of social structure, different from that of other European countries. In most cities, migration has dispersed organically and, although there are areas of higher density, there are no ghettos, as is the case in other continental capitals . Migrants live in working-class neighborhoods of major Spanish cities and their children attend the same schools and play on the same sports teams. Hoaxes or hate speech are more difficult to convey when we have direct knowledge of the realities. For this reason, urban segregation is usually the prelude to civil conflict.
A Lepenist party in the Ceinture du Fuet
One of the few places where there is a greater concentration is Catalonia, which is seen above all in areas linked to tourism or the agri-food sector, such as the so-called Fuet Belt. It is therefore not strange that a Lepenist party appeared there, speaking of the conservation of culture or the replacement of the population. Also because Catalonia shares another problem with European countries: the globalization of its capital. In Barcelona, the presence of a high-income foreign population significantly displaces the local population, because its economic capacity is greater. It is a quieter process than migration from the south because, in a competitive world, recognizing it is somewhat devastating: it is not a fund that gives me money, but rather someone who works for same way as me, but who earns three times as much. as much. I did something wrong. This is why we often talk about tourism, which is only part of the phenomenon and allows the dynamic to appear more horizontal.
One of the most obvious problems with this process is language. In Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Prague or Budapest, it is relatively easy to develop one’s personal and professional life in English, which causes a certain shock among older or less educated nationals who live or visit these cities: my capital no longer speaks English. language. . This is something that is starting to happen in Barcelona, where Catalan is less and less present and not only because of Spanish. There are stores that welcome you in English and neighborhood community discussions that take place in this language. This seems ironic, but it is likely that if there were no other more global co-official language, the Catalans’ shock with their capital would be greater. That’s the problem with selling your city. They can buy it from you and it no longer belongs to you. If the business model is to transform the city into a seaside resort, the customer is in charge. There are no more citizens.
Recovering a city is not easy because, to achieve it, we would have to pursue a proactive policy in terms of access to housing and question our three models: general, urban and national. That is, touching many people’s noses. In fact, it is likely that the population itself does not want to do so despite complaints and unease. Barcelona was one of the cities where the Real Estate Party won the last municipal elections. Also Palma, Cádiz, Valencia, Malaga or Seville. In each of them, news accumulates about rising prices, gentrification and the expulsion of the resident population.
First of all, the general model according to which everything must become a product part of a market would be called into question. This includes what the previous model considered rights, such as health, education or housing, and which still appear as such in European constitutions. The 2008 crisis, which originated in the real estate sector, did not cause a flight from the sector, but rather a reorganization. Investment has become direct and restricted. In other words, the various investment funds have started to buy up our cities with the money put into circulation to revive the economy. Currently, brick money is more important than ever globally. According to a report by consulting firm McKinsey, two-thirds of the world’s wealth is in the real estate sector.
The second model that would be called into question is the one that has been proposed to post-industrial cities. From the end of the 1960s, the movement industry appeared as a salvation for spaces that had stopped production. The process is tested in American cities, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and New York, and the old industrial zones are beginning to house the buildings of the new service city: shopping centers, hotels, museums, auditoriums, convention centers, universities, opera theaters or even aquariums. Everything aims to attract movements of people or capital. Potential visitors began to become much more important than residents. In Spain, it is a model that has successfully started in Barcelona and Bilbao, although the latter has decided not to completely lose its share of the productive economy. Cities like Madrid and Malaga are enthusiastically following this path.
After the 2008 crisis, investment funds used the money that would be used to revive the economy to buy our cities at knockdown prices.
Finally, the third leg on which a proactive housing policy would rest is the local leg. The Spanish economy has its roots in the Franco revolution, where migration from the countryside to the city was taken advantage of to create both a powerful construction sector, always eager for new territories, and a country of owners land. Housing is the main Spanish savings system and also the form of intergenerational inheritance. For owner Spain, which is the absolute majority, the news of rising prices means that its piggy bank is bigger. The city goes dark, but I stay warm.
Is political change possible?
There is no housing problem. Lack of access leads to a multitude of personal and collective complications, the latter of which are cultural, social, demographic and political. For example, there are sectors that find themselves without workers or without cultural renewal stands because young people can no longer live together. There is the idea that the situation will explode at some point, as if another crash would only cause prices to fall instead of causing a shock to the entire economic structure. A housing crisis can spark policy change if there is a cohesive group that sees this problem and, more importantly, if there are organizations capable of solving it.
Rebuilding cities is not easy, but it will be inevitable. A country with this gap between owners and non-owners cannot have social cohesion. A country based on rentism is paralyzed, as the liberals of the 19th century already explained, and the traditional recipe for building housing will not be enough because, in addition to not always guaranteeing a drop in prices, it can be counterproductive. productive, because it puts a prized asset into competition. The ultra Dutch party won the elections by talking about housing. Concretely, say that migrants keep social housing. Something else must be done. We need to change the model. Better said, the models.
