- The City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz informed the residents that it does not accept the 35 resources presented by the neighbors on 29 January. Residents denounce that eviction is not legal and ask that it be relocated in homes appropriate to their needs and possibilities.
A press conference was held on Olarizu Avenue on Friday at noon, involving 40 families from Okupa Zure Bizia and the Housing Rights and Social Exclusion Initiative. The Stop Evictions platform has also shown its support for the neighbours of Olarizu, who have reported torture.
Residents consider that the procedure initiated by the City Council for eviction "does not comply with the law". That is why new resources will be presented. They will also request the intervention of the Trustee (defender of vitorian citizenship) “to paralyse the dismissal until the administrative and judicial way is resolved”.
Alternatives adapted to needs and possibilities
At a press conference, Olarizu’s neighbours have ensured that they have worked hard to turn Olarizu’s abandoned homes into “habitable and dignified places”, but they are willing to move. However, they denounce that social services have not offered them useful alternatives: “The only accommodation option offered to us is the municipal hostel, at best.” Neighbours have proposed a long-term solution that takes into account their needs and possibilities: “We have never refused to pay a rent that suits our economic conditions, what we ask is to stay in homes adapted to our family needs, paying the corresponding social rental price.”
Faced with institutional harassment, the voice of neighbors
Residents have recalled the persecution suffered by the City Hall and the Police since they began living on Olarizu Avenue: That before the appearance of COVID-19 they were cut off water and light, that in times of confinement they were “abandoned by the Department of Social Policy, or that the Municipal Police and the Ertzaintza have imposed fines for leaving their homes to seek water, among other things. “They want to bring down our dreams, our things, our desires and hopes to live in a safe home with our families,” they said.
Neighbours have ensured that they have a voice of their own and that they will fight for "dignified" housing in the face of "Mr Uraran's strategic attacks". “Because the street is not an opportunity to live. Because having a decent home is a right, not a luxury.”