11 million empty homes in Europe more than enough to house all homeless people

There are eleven million empty homes in the European Union, while the number of homeless people is estimated in 4.1 million, reported The Guardian last week. 

The most scandalous case, if any, is Spain, with 3.4 million empty homes, partly in abandoned holiday resorts built in the context of the brick bubble. Next are France and Italy, where empty homes are more than two million each, Germany (almost those figures). Large numbers of empty homes also remain idle in Britain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece.

Housing squat evicted in Bilbao

As part of the usual violent operations to force the masses to accept the arbitrary rules of the bourgeoisie about property, money and exploitation, the Western Basque Police Force (Ertzaintza) has evicted this morning at 6:30 a housing squat in Erribera 13, Old Quarter of Bilbao. 

The inhabitants tried to oppose peaceful resistance on the roof of the building but were violently forced out and identified.

(Update: a woman has been arrested for no apparent reason and accused of "severe disobedience"). 

A demonstration ha been called for this evening. 

Sources: Bilboko Okupazio Bulegoa[eu], Naiz Info[es].

Basque Country: annother social squat is born

A former convent was occupied recently in Durango (Bizkaia) by people who describe themselves as mothers, fathers, workers, electricians, teachers, young, known, unknown, students... mostly neighbors of the town.

They say that this occupation is a way to make our rights real by bringing back to life a building and lands long abandoned. 

Hope it has a long and fruitful life. 

Source: Bilboko Okupazio Bulegoa[es].

Greece: re-occupation of residential squat ends with police attack and many arrested

The residential squat Orfanotrofio of Thessaloniki was evicted in early September and re-occupied today. However police was determined to impede it and proceeded to kettle all the people gathered in the streets and, then, to raid the building, arresting all those inside. 

As they were being driven to police dungeons the squatters chanted "the passion for freedom is stronger than all prisons". 

Source: Contra Info.

Greece: residential squat forcibly evicted by police in Thessaloniki

Police raided and forcibly evicted the Orfanotrofio squat in Thessaloniki, which had been the home of many people for many years. Seven people were arrested for just being there. 

Hundreds marched in a solidarity demonstration soon after the sad news spread.

Sources: From the Greek Streets, Contra Info.

Spain: IMF wants to slash salaries another 10%

Cristina Lagarta, oops, I mean Christine Lagarde, IMF top boss and former right hand of fascist French President Sarkozy, wants Spain to slash salaries another 10% (a 7% was already cut last year to all public officers, excepted MPs).

Not just that Lagarde also wants a reduction of 1.7% in social security fees, along a substantial increase in the time needed to be entitled to a pension (from 25 to 35 years) and an undetermined further increase in the VAT tax (already dramatically increased). 

She also wants impossibles such as to to reach "a credible social pact".

On the other hand her forecasts are gloomy, even in the event of acceptance of her stupid demands: private consume would fall initially on these changes (of course) and unemployment would remain extreme even in 2017 (26% forecast).

In spite of rising the VAT and demolishing the social fabric, Lagarde imagines that prices would drop. 

Source: Gara[es].

Lagarde is a retard, reality instead

This woman is plain stupid (or rather a criminal and compulsive liar): salaries simply cannot fall under the living costs and she is not proposing any such measures other than hallucinating with a hypothetical price drop based on nothing. 

Real effective measures would be to force the housing market to adjust prices downwards dramatically and brutally increase the availability of cheap public housing (and/or allowing squatting of speculators' idle property). The extremely high (and anti-market) costs of housing are surely the main barrier to salary drop. You just can't work for less that it costs you to live. 

Another key barrier are the totally unjustified high prices of electricity bills, which have grown more than 50% in the last few years and more than 100% in the last decade. Spain now has the most expensive electricity bills in all the Eurozone, excepted Cyprus and Ireland.

If Spanish salaries have to fall, living costs have to fall first and foremost. And that means hurting the banks and the energy monopolies.

Neither Lagarde nor Barroso nor Rajoy will do that. But is the only logical thing to do other than outright communism.

Bilbao: empty building occupied for homes

The number 13th of Ribera Street (pictured), abandoned for years, was occupied yesterday by people in need of a home.

The building is located in the Old Quarter (Alde Zarra) of Bilbao, Basque Country. 

In their communication, the squatters denounced the city model, oriented to tourism and big companies, what pushes most people to precariousness (temporary jobs, no collective agreements, low salaries) and the near-impossibility to have a decent home (or a living in general). 

They denounce the speculators and the corrupt politicians, who push the people to joblessness, homelessness and even lack of a decent education.

We are tired of getting just the crumbs, they say. And, after recalling the long European squatter tradition, they declare:

We cannot waste any more time, we have to take the future in our hands. We have occupied this building with a clear intention: to create a space for all the people and with open doors to learn how to take the reins of our own lives. 

Sources[es/eu]: Borroka Garaia Da!, Elkartzen.

Italy: march for housing rights brutally repressed

From Struggles in Italy:

Demo for the right to housing in Rome ends in clashes, one injured

Posted on 2013/07/03 by Struggles in Italy

 

A 20-year old young woman lying on the ground with her face covered in blood: this happened yesterday in Rome, when a rally demanding more public housing was brutally charged by the police.

The movement for the right to affordable housing is very active in Rome, with hundreds of occupations, rallies and assemblies to prevent evictions, and public initiatives calling for affordable housing. On July 1, associations and collectives called a demo in the city center, demanding a moratorium on house evictions, which affect the weakest and the poorest in times of economic hardship.

The rally was not authorized to enter Piazza del Campidoglio, home of the Mayoral Office, allegedly because of a planned concert; however, a rally of the ultra-right wing formation La Destra had been authorized to take place in the very same square. Anti-riot police blocked the path of the demonstrators as soon as they reached Piazza Venezia, before they could approach the area in question.

The police charges were very violent, with batons used on unarmed and defenseless protesters. One of them, Stefania Giorioso, had to seek medical help and needed 15 stitches in her forehead. She has since publicly denounced the brutality of police on national television. Mayor Marino later visited her in the hospital, as a gesture of public reconciliation.

Following the episode in Naples earlier in May, this is the second time under the new cabinet that police have attacked left-wing protesters in order to protect far-right activists.

Andalusia moves to suppress the plague of empty homes and foreclosure abuses

According to the new regional law, to go through routine parliament procedure in the following weeks, companies like banks or real state speculators which keep empty homes will have to pay large fines, up to €9000 per empty home. More than 700,000 homes are unoccupied in Andalusia, most of which belong to banks and similarly parasitic companies which speculate with the basic needs of the people. 

The Andalusian government could even temporarily expropriate homes under foreclosure threat in order to guarantee their residents continuity of their housing rights (yes, the right to a decent home is a "fundamental right" according to the Spanish Constitution, although this is almost never applied by courts nor legislators).

Source: Elkartzen[es].

Asturias: fascists and police join forces against popular protest for the right to a dignified home

The march of the Platform of Mortgage Affected People (PAH) in Xixon (Asturias, Kingdom of Spain) suffered yesterday the aggression of several fascist thugs who attempted to march along them under the xenophobic populist slogan of "No Spaniard without home". This strongly offended the sensibility of the PAH members and sympathizers, who believe that the right to a dignified home is independent of the passport and therefore attempted to push them out of the march.

When these fascists were already surrounded by the protesters, the Spanish police forces charged against the latter while the intruders performed the fascist salutation.

After the incident, and once the fascists moved out, the march proceeded with relative calm through the streets of Xixon after a banner reading: For the right to a home. Against financial genocide.

Other slogans chanted were "we want an apartment like the prince", "Rajoy resign, the people is against you" and, before the bank offices and the offices of the ruling PP party, also "assassins!".

Source: Sare Antifaxista[es].

Spain: pseudo-socialists expelled from anti-evictions protest (video)

Members of the main opposition (and formerly ruling) Spanish Socialist Worker Party (PSOE) were nonviolently expelled from a demonstration in Madrid against the ongoing widespread home evictions, which include a clause that allow lenders to retain much of the debt as unpaid, clause never altered by the often ruling PSOE.

The members of the PSOE were expelled by means of repeated and massive cries of "out, out", "they are neither worker nor socialist", "PSOE, PP: they are the same shit", "they don't represent us", etc.

The populist leader of the "Socialist Youth", Beatriz Talegón, who days ago scolded publicly the whole "Socialist International" for their neoliberal attitude (but was criticized in the Internet and some media as a hypocrite because of her huge salary), attempted to stay but was repeatedly attacked verbally until a police cordon removed her out of sight.

Then the march continued at the class-war cry of "sí se puede!" ("it can be done!").

Recently the Platform Against Evictions managed to get their legal popular initiative debated in Congress, after the ruling party members (PP, holding a full majority) yielded to continuous street and online protests. However it is feared that the bill  will be rejected or horribly deformed when it goes through parliamentary process.

Greece: Anarchist squat raided by police

The occupied building (housing) of Villa Amalias was raided by police yesterday. Eight people (six Greeks and two foreigners) who happened to be in it at the time of the raid were arrested and remain under arrest so far. No charges are known to have been put forward. 

Contra-Info reminds that previous evictions of this popular housing entity have failed because it has always been reoccupied:

The Greek police have temporarily evicted the squatters several times in the past, but Villa Amalias has always been (re)occupied. It must be emphasized that the building was built in circa 1860, and since 1990 it has been maintained only thanks to the autonomous action of the squatters themselves and many solidarians. Villa Amalias comrades have declared on numerous occasions that they are consciously opposing exploiters, henchmen, pimps and druglords of any nationality in the downtown neighbourhoods, fighting constantly against fascist and racist violence so as to promote intercultural coexistence and self-organization.

Sources and more information at Contra Info and From the Greek Streets.


Update (Dec 21): communication from the Villa Amalia community at From the Greek Streets.

Another update: the squatter community, via From the Greek Streets, mentions that the police entered illegally and that they have removed the precincts already:

As of this morning, the cops have unsealed the door of the Villa on the side of Cheiden Str, without the presence of any of the residents. It is obvious that they are inside illegally and have made unauthorized entry into the space. We warn that any damage or alteration in the space of the occupation will be responded to appropriately. We should remind them that no-one has the right to be present inside the building without our presence. 

Also it is mentioned that the arrested have gone through court with stupid ad-hoc charges like having empty beer bottles, what is used as "evidence" of their intention of creating Molotov cocktails and what not. 

Basque Country: massive demo for the right to a home

Tens of thousands demonstrated in Bilbao yesterday after the slogan: Neither evictions, nor social cuts! A home is our right!

And indeed the constitution of the Kingdom of Spain formally guarantees a home and a dignified job as fundamental rights. As you can appreciate, in practical terms Spain's "fundamental rights" are considered a mere good will list of intentions, turning the fundamental law into nothing. 

Faced with growing anger the reactionary government of Spain recently decreed a forceful extension of two years in foreclosures but the conditions are so stringent that almost nobody fits in them. While the income requirement (three times the minimal salary) seems reasonable, the other conditions (large family, i.e. four or more underage children, or single parent with two underage children) seem designed so only some groups can benefit, notably Christian and Muslim fanatics who give birth like vermin and still have to learn how a condom is used. 

None of the recent suicides (mostly people in their 50s with already grown up children) would have been averted with this hypocritical decree.

The decree does not even address one of the most unfair aspects of the Spanish mortgage law: that returning the home does not cancel the debt, establishing in fact debt slavery and debt outcasts.

In opposition to the fundamentalist actions of the Spanish neofascist government, the organizers demanded that the state takes care of basic housing as is the case in Germany and other advanced European states.

Another foreclosure-caused suicide

It happened today in the Basque town of Barakaldo (just a few minutes in the subway from where I live): a woman jumped from the balcony of her home to her death, just as she was about to be evicted from her home.

The victim is Amaia Egaña, is the wife of a former local councilor, J.M. Asensio (PSOE, both pictured above right).

Stop Evictions! (a popular movement that tries to block or at least delay foreclosures by means of nonviolent resistance) declared that they knew nothing about this case beforehand.

In nearby dates local judges and European ones have issued several sentences in which they declare the Spanish mortgage law, which allows banks to keep citizens in debt servitude for life even after getting their homes, is illegal or unconstitutional. But while judges and politicians debate, more than 500 families are evicted every day in the Kingdom of Mr. Bourbon. 

In some cases with an obvious and direct result: death.

But these foreclosure-caused suicides are just the tip of the iceberg. It is estimated that at least one of every three suicides nowadays in the European state are directly caused by misery and the desperation it causes. 

Ironically the Spanish Constitution guarantees the right to a home and a dignified job. These fundamental rights should be above private property, which is considered by that same constitution subservient of the social needs. However all that is nothing but toilet paper in practical terms.

Sources[es]: Bilboko Elkartzen, Herri Kolore.

Housing squat evicted in Athens

From Contra Info:

Athens: Eviction of the housing squat on Spyridonos Trikoupi street in Exarchia

On October 30th, at around 10am, anti-riot squadrons stormed the streets surrounding Exarchia square and violently evicted the housing squat on Spyridonos Trikoupi street. According to the initial information, approximately ten people were taken to the Exarchia police station, while the ‘legal’ owners of the building have not (yet) filed a lawsuit against the detained squatters.

Update, 18.00 (GMT+2): The ‘landlords’ filed a lawsuit against the squatters. All detainees will be held at the police station until tomorrow, 31/10, when they are expected to appear before prosecutor.

Warning for housing bubbles in Britain, Canada and Australia

Dean Baker at Al Jazeera has a clever insight:

The average house price in the UK is now almost 60 per cent higher than in the US. It had been 20 per cent lower in the mid-90s. In Canada, the average house price is more than 70 per cent higher than in the United States. The price of the median house in Australia is more than 225 per cent of the median house price in the United States.

Given that wages in the United States are the same or higher than in all three countries, it is difficult to see how this huge gap in house prices can make sense. Furthermore, since rents have not notably outpaced inflation in any of these countries, it does not appear that the price increases are being driven by the fundamentals of the housing market. If there was a serious shortage of housing we should expect it to be showing up in rents as well.

In short, there is good reason to believe that house prices in these countries will not be sustained anywhere near current levels. All three are likely to see the same sort of house price collapse that has wreaked so much havoc on the US economy. It's impossible to know what the triggering event will be; a rise in interest rates could certainly deflate a bubble quickly.

And not just in the US economy, let's not forget that the Spanish nightmare sits on one of the worst housing bubbles ever.

Catalonia: unemployed and soon-to-be homeless hangs himself

An unemployed and desperate electrician, M.P., killed himself by hanging in a street of Hospitalet de Llobregat, a suburb of Barcelona. The man, his wife and daughter had been just expelled from a squatted apartment in spite of all legal efforts to prevent the eviction.

The last attempt of M.P., 45, was to attempt to have his family hosted in a public homeless refuge, petition that was denied. 

M.P. was electrician until some years ago, when he lost his job. Exhausted the unemployment subsidy, he only earned €300 as pension because of the depression caused by unemployment, not enough for anything, much less paying a rent. After being evicted of his rented apartment, he decided to squat an empty social apartment. He was eventually evicted as well and demanded  €9000 as indemnization. After failing to delay this eviction even minimally, he hang himself from a tree in a park of Juan de Juanes street, where he lived. 

This is the kind of situations that the Capitalist Oligarchy with their predatory habits are pushing more and more people to. And this is just unbearable: that perfectly decent hard workers are bound to annihilation as if our streets would have suddenly become some sort of Auschwitz.

The Spanish Constitution in its article 47 states that all Spanish citizens have the right to enjoy a dignified and adequate home. 

Similarly the right (and duty) to work is also formally proclaimed and then forgotten.

The ineffectiveness and disinterest on this kind of theoretical rights shows that the Spanish Constitution is bullshit.

Source: Sare Antifaxista[es].

Tenants' movement activist murdered in Poland

Protest held in Jola's memory

It happened a month ago but this is the kind of news that does not make first pages, not even Warsaw, where the authorities, clearly colluding with the criminals, are trying to hide it under the pretext of "suicide". Nobody suicides by completely burning herself in a hidden forest, so we must declare the authorities in Warsaw accomplices of this crime, just out of common sense, the same that they are accomplices of the privatization without notice or protection of any sort of the homes under dispute. 

Jolanta Brzeska, 64, was identified as the body, burnt beyond recognition, found in a forest in the outskirts of Warsaw early in March. She was a leading activist in the association of tenants who are trying to defend the rights acquired when Poland was still a socialist state against the speculative privatization of their homes. 

She was particularly confronted with one of the most infamous slumlords, Marek Mossokowski, and was the last tenant refusing to leave what was a valuable piece of real state... but also her home. An apartment that was public property until 2006. 

Sources: Polish Union of Syndicalists (ZSP)[en], CNT newspaper (print edition)[es]