In the Old Town of Vitoria-Gasteiz, more than 1,000 homes are empty. Many of them are owned by the City Hall. At the same time, there are hundreds of neighbors who live in spaces that do not have the minimum conditions to live. The pandemic and containment have aggravated the problem, which was already severe before, and after the pandemic the situation has not improved.

Several groups in the Old Town of Vitoria-Gasteiz have called on residents to demonstrate on Friday at 19:00 in the framework of the holiday week Zahaz Harro. In addition to denouncing the problem, they want to propose solutions. On the one hand, they require institutions to develop a regeneration plan that prioritizes neighbors and social needs. On the other hand, and with the conviction of the will of the City Hall, they will emphasize the need to strengthen the community networks to respond among the neighbors to the needs of the neighborhood.

The City Hall left three families with children on the street as an example

The demonstration, which will depart from Plaza Bollerías, will end at the offices of Ensanche 21 in the Guipuzkoan capital. Along the way, they will make stops to make visible some concrete situations of the neighborhood. One of them is the family that the Social Services of Vitoria-Gasteiz left in the street during the pandemic. In early June, the social agents of the neighborhood and the city reported the situation of the family at a press conference. Subsequently, the social services required a house to be evicted four days later by order of the agents of the Ertzaintza. The conveners of the demonstration consider that the suffering of this family is not an isolated exception, but an extreme reflection of the general situation.