35,466 vacant homes in Navarra, 13,199 of them in the Region of Pamplona. The data is 2013, but there doesn't seem to be any reason to think that's changed a lot. And meanwhile, thousands of people with no possibility of housing: some young people who can't leave their parents' house, and others who are in a much harder situation, who have been evicted from their homes because they can't afford to pay. These are not new things. It is a paradox that is repeated not only in Navarre, but throughout the Basque Country: homeless people and homes without people. However, in the neighborhood of La Chantrea, a new tool has been developed to address the problem without waiting for anyone, collective, that collects more than one access path to housing: Office of Emancipation of the Chantrea.

Although 73 per cent of young people refused to become independent, they recognized that they were unable to do so. There they decided that they had no choice but to organize housing on their own to guarantee the right to housing. “The Administration, and less private companies, will not help us to develop this right, because its benefits grow as our rights are cut. In our view, the best way to strengthen the right to housing is to give a collective response to the problem.” Since then, anyone who wants to solve the homelessness can go to the Auzotegi de la Txantrea House of Culture on Monday afternoon to receive advice and help from the emancipation office.

Occupation and precarious rental

One of the solutions they propose is occupation, offering technical and legal advice. To the extent that housing is a right, they claim that it is legitimate to occupy empty houses, especially those of banks and institutions. More and more people have opted for this route and have the support of their neighbours, as shown by the pink flags that fill the streets. There is also an assembly of okupas so that those in this situation can help those who want to take that path.

They also work on an alternative based on consensus. They negotiate with the neighbors who have a second empty house, in exchange for some service, so that they leave that home to those who need it: house reform, private classes to their children...

A problem that's also adult.

The Txantrea Emancipation Office is a tool of the youth movement, but they know very well that the lack of a decent housing is not just a problem for young people. Therefore, they strive to provide resources for both youth and adults, and also maintain a close relationship with another neighborhood agent fighting the same problem: Txantrea with the collective Eviction Free Zone. “We work together to put pressure on and increase the social protection of financial institutions and institutions that authorize evictions.”