- The Cultural Enbata Center of Hendaya has organized the exhibition "Euskal Herria is not for sale" Under the motto 'La Noche de …' has launched its housing campaign. In principle, the complaint campaign will continue until the summer and will seek to raise public awareness of the current situation.
In an interview with Leire Casamajou, member of the Gaztetxe de Hendaia Hitza de Iparralde, Enbata Gaztetxea explained the campaign he has launched to denounce the housing problem. Euskal Herria is not sold! The campaign, which will focus on Hendaia, has been launched under the motto "Ipar Euskal Herria is a problem of everything".
According to data provided by the member of the Gaztetxe, the 2017 data reveal that 40% of Hendaia's homes are secondary and 5% empty homes. In his view, the situation has gone worse in recent years and, in addition, COVID-19 has intensified it. They want to denounce that "prices have risen by 20%" and that the difficulties in accessing housing for young people "increase". "In Ipar Euskal Herria, the average rental of an apartment of 60 square meters is 720 euros, knowing that this burden of money represents 54% of the average wage of the young".
The French Basque Country and the folklorisation of culture
They consider that housing problems also affect culture, the Basque country, the economy and the national conscience: "The agencies make marketing with our identity, our culture and our living conditions; and, at an economic level, they impose an economy oriented almost exclusively to tourism," he added. In addition, he stressed that there has also been "a rise in prices, a greater enrichment of the rich and a greater folklorization of the French Basque Country and culture".
The members of Enbata believe that there is a sector that is exploiting them, and that is that "the private promoters, the French media, the local authorities, the tourism agencies and the French State" are convinced that they promote the situation.
The collective has explained that the goal of young people is to "fight collectively and detect alternatives", so they have launched a campaign of denunciation. For the time being, posters with housing data have been disseminated through the streets of the locality and have indicated to Hitza that talks and other activities will be held later on. The campaign, which will continue until the summer, will seek to raise the awareness of the people of Hendaia, who want to reach all ages.