Housing construction projects in the municipality of Berango have generated controversy in different sectors. Based on the PGOU approved in 2011, the construction of new dwellings in the municipality has recently begun, whose number has practically doubled: currently there are 2,658 dwellings, according to data from the database Udalplan 2020, and it is planned to build another 2,326 in a regimen of 1,658 PPV, until reaching 4,984. The last ones are those of Etxebarri and Otxabene, almost all VPO, of private promotion. The mayor of Berango, Anabel Landa, has stressed that all of them will be built on private land and that the homes obtained will be directed preferentially to the berangoztarras; the 206 that will be drawn on 18 June in the vicinity of Otxabene, in the Santa Ana district, and one of them will be able to buy 161 people linked to the municipality.

The opposition (EH Bildu, Elkarrekin Podemos and PSE-EE), as well as the Beran Land Defences Group, have lamented that all the offer they have made so far is for sale. At the plenary session held on 25 February, in one of the debates, the opposition stressed that the option of buying protected housing "is satisfied" by the residents of Berango and raised the offer of social rent. In this sense, the environmental organization advocates for the construction of housing for people for social and homeless rent, as well as "a serious analysis of the demand for housing in the municipality and the empty housing register". In this sense, the mayor of Berango explained that the City Hall plans to build homes for rent: "We are in contact with the Basque Government to see what is the best way to do this," he added. However, he stressed that, at present, the City Council "does not have the necessary economic or administrative power" to deal with them on its own, and stressed that one of the options would be to provide the Basque Government with a land to build social housing. However, he stressed that, in this case, it cannot be ensured that these new dwellings are reserved for the neighbours of Berango.

However, Mayor Anabel Landa has stressed that currently the City Hall does not have much heritage to be able to make these social homes for rent: "We have just 10,000 square meters of the fields of Lantzarte and Mount Infernueta, so we have nothing to do. The rest of the green areas of the municipality are privately owned". The fact is that in order to be able to carry out the promotions of Etxebarri and Otxabene, in exchange for their management, the City Hall has ceded several plots for capital gain or urban development. After the first process, the City Hall has received a plot and money. Landa has specified that this money will be used to repair the roads of the municipality, while the plot will be put for sale and that the money raised will be used for projects such as the repair of the Kurtze district or the expansion of the sports club. "In any case, the dwellings that are built in the area will also be VPO, as guaranteed by law."

Otxabene's surplus value has caused the City Hall to have included two plots. One of them has been mutated by the company Inmogroup Grupo Mos Inmobiliaria S.A. to take ownership of the Icaza palace and the adjacent building, located in the park of Moreaga; the other, for the moment, explained Landa, "but surely we will also sell it". In fact, he explained that the municipality currently has a number of needs and that with the money raised it will try to cover them.

Management of local heritage

The plenary session of the month of February sparked a debate when it came to drawing up a proposal for the plot for which the City Hall was responsible in the sector of Etxebarri. In this sense, the mayor reported that the money obtained from the sale of this land is intended to improve the existing infrastructure and equipment, as well as undertake investments, since "it would be difficult to do otherwise". In response, EH spokesman Bildu recalled that on the plot VPO will also be built for berangoztarras and that he sees "very well" the construction of official protective housing, "but that they must be tendered for rent". In fact, he argued that, at the moment, the requests of the Berangoztarras would be "satisfied" with the BOE of Etxebarri and Otxabene: "The OPVs currently on sale have satisfied the real demand of one or two generations that have not been able to buy in their municipality, because the prices of the dwellings are disproportionate".

In this regard, the spokesman for the PSE-EE also stated that those eligible to be awarded a VPO have been able to opt for one of the homes with the promotions made so far. Therefore, according to him, "there is currently no demand for this modality, so perhaps other modalities of sale or rental should be proposed". He added that it would be interesting to reflect on the fact that "if not, the heritage of the people will be reduced by betting on people outside Berango". The Elkarrekin Berango Group also expressed its view in this regard in the debate.

Regarding the management of the heritage of the municipality, Anabel Landa has highlighted that, before these construction processes, the City Hall has not had much heritage, which will allow it to have free and local spaces for the free use of citizenship. In Berbara, Etxebarri, 37,000 square metres of free space and 300 square metres will be available in the basements of buildings for the construction of municipal premises. In Otxabe, on the contrary, 40,202 square meters will be obtained as free spaces, 4,370 square meters for playful and cultural equipment and the Lipperheide family building as a cultural space. "Until now we have achieved free spaces for the people in areas that until now were private spaces," stressed the mayor of the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demonstration against "speculation"

Last Saturday, March 27, more than 200 people mobilized in Berango to protest the urban project of the City Hall. Under the motto "no land, no breath", the people gathered at the demonstration denounced the "direct attack" on nature and agriculture. In his opinion, as a result of the planned construction processes, 40 hectares of green areas of the municipality will disappear. Among other actions, the destruction of the oak forests of Arana, the oak forests of Santa Ana and the wet zone near the Itze River stand out. In view of this, the mayor, Anabel Landa, has stressed that the land has always been privately owned, in which there has not been an agricultural exploitation and in which it is being built because the logical planning of urban planning makes it so, "we are making a growth like oil stains". Remember that Berango is very large and asks the following question: "Are the green areas to be built the only ones in the municipality? Are we really going to wipe out the green areas of Berango? Where should we limit growth? ".

At the demonstration they also regretted the venal nature of all the OPVs to be built, thinking that many berangoztarras will not be able to pay for them: "There are a lot of people in the village who cannot buy a house of 200,000 euros for a single price. It is absurd to think that these housing policies have a social and not speculative intention," the protesters denounced.

For his part, the mayor has recalled that for a long time the BOE has not been carried out in the municipality, "10 years ago the last and very few were celebrated". It therefore believes that what is being done now, and what is going to be done, will be able to respond to the people’s demand, although the majority of the opposition believes that they are satisfied. According to the mayor, the greater the number of promotions, the greater the space for the neighbors to access one of these dwellings, "because until now some did not meet the requirements, but in the next ones they can be fulfilled". In addition, the municipality trusts that, despite the fact that many OPVs are made, the prices of nearby dwellings "drop in price", "depending on demand and demand".

As for the law, the Berango Land Defense Group has denounced that the Territorial Planning Guidelines approved by the Basque Government in 2019 do not allow the construction of so many homes in Berango. In addition, the protesters have pointed out that the technical writers of the new Partial Territorial Plan of the Bilbao Metropolitano have pointed out in their reports that "it is not possible to build in Otxaben or in Otxandategi because it is far from the city center". For his part, Anabel Landa has argued that all the current regulations are guaranteed to make these constructions, "the dossiers are there, you can see them whoever you want." In addition, he recalled that these dwellings were provided for in the 2011 PGOU and that since then it was known where and how it would be built. "There was also a process of participation in his day; why have you waited until now to complain about all this? We have always acted in accordance with current legislation."