Housing: between hypocrisy and cynicism
Firstly, various initiatives have been developed to deal with the housing problem: thousands of free and protected housing have been built; it has been recognized as a subjective right; rental has been promoted; the Basque Government has invented an area of high tension. However, housing remains a serious problem.
Secondly, with regard to climate change, while there are thousands of empty dwellings in urbanized areas, the obstinate institutional policy of urbanization of natural spaces accelerates change and we have fewer and fewer green spaces in our nuclei and in our environment.
Third, although it is recognized as a right to housing, in capitalist society business prevails and any construction, individual, tourist and speculative company that wants to do business with housing will always be above the citizens' rights. Therefore, if it does not disappear, it will be difficult to solve the problem.
I will briefly explain the model I know. In Orereta we have in force the General Plan 20 years ago, during which more housing has been built than the number of people who have come to live in our people, destroying some natural green areas that were in the centre of the city. Of these, a quarter has not been officially protected. On the other hand, the City Hall sells the public domain area (right to build twenty homes), homes and premises. In addition, the City Hall has not complied with the Land Law by not providing a euro for the construction of social housing, although the law allows it. In addition, there are hundreds of empty homes. In the light of these data, it is clear that the City Hall is not very concerned about the need for social housing, since instead of creating a social housing park, it has been selling public property.
There are measures to address the housing problem. For example, the creation of a housing board in the municipalities, the number of citizens who in our country need housing, the possibilities of payment... and the need or not to build housing
That is what has happened in our country, but I am convinced that it has happened in many other peoples, because the institutions do not have the courage to deal with the problem and leave housing policy in the hands of private interests.
We are aware that, although it is the function of the Administration, housing policy is delimited by construction and speculative companies. We also know the consequences: the high price of housing; the poor conditions of bank loans; the increasingly expensive rental, due to the influence of tourism, because a tourist has more access to housing than to develop his life; subsidies to promote rent in the hands of speculators; the policy of public housing has not solved the problem, because it has not helped the most deprived citizens, because they are left out of the limit of paying with their low wages.
I therefore say hypocrisy, because the institutions have not solved the problem, but have been increasing that problem, and now calling for the declaration of a high-tension area, as if they had solved it. Worse still, without any coordination, they tell us how many homes they want to build in each village, as if the problem was a clash between politicians and peoples.
And I say cynicism because the administration demands that citizens become aware of climate change and do five and five to stop change, knowing that when the institutions themselves intend to destroy more green natural spaces, more new urbanizations will bring more infrastructure, more consumption, more pollution -- that increase climate change.
However, there are measures that can be taken to address the housing problem. For example, the creation of a Housing Board in the municipalities, whose function would consist, among other things, in collecting the number of citizens who in our country need housing, the possibilities of payment, the dimensions... and putting on the table the need or not to build housing. This would, of course, require a halt to the control of empty dwellings and the construction of dwellings, since it is not possible to build and build dwellings as before, without knowing what the real needs are and whether they have been met. In other words, we need real public control in housing policy.
Santi Angulo Martín
Bidali zure iritzi artikuluak iritzia@argia.eus helbide elektronikora
ARGIAk ez du zertan bat etorri artikuluen edukiarekin. Idatzien gehienezko luzera 4.500 karakterekoa da (espazioak barne). Idazkera aldetik gutxieneko zuzentasun bat beharrezkoa da: batetik, ARGIAk ezin du hartu zuzenketa sakona egiteko lanik; bestetik, egitekotan edukia nahi gabe aldatzeko arriskua dago. ARGIAk azaleko zuzenketak edo moldaketak egingo dizkie artikuluei, behar izanez gero.
Many times, after looking at the brumas from my house, it has occurred to me not to catch umbrellas, even though I know I will just soak up. Why will it be? Maybe you don't want to catch the umbrella? Maybe in the hope that I don't get wet? Nevertheless, the conclusion has always... [+]
I remember when I was 16 years old, the Ertzaintza first identified me in a concentration in favor of the Basque Country before the Bergara courts. We believed that in Euskal Herria it was legitimate to cry for the Euskaldunization of the courts, but then there would also be a... [+]
The disaster caused by the cold drop in Valencia has left us dramatic images, both because of the immediate consequences it has had, and because the future awaiting us has brought us forward: that this type of extreme climate phenomena will be increasingly numerous and serious... [+]
The update of the Navarra Energy Plan goes unnoticed. The Government of Navarre made this public and, at the end of the period for the submission of claims, no government official has explained to us what their proposals are to the citizens.
The reading of the documentation... [+]
Since the disappearance of the Soviet Union, rusophobia has been growing. The concept of security of the UN Security Council of 2002 is very clear and indicates that the security and stability of the planet must depend on the states that do not intend to challenge the United... [+]
Andoni Urrestarazu Landazabal was born in the village of Araia on 16 July 1902 and died in Vitoria on 21 November 1993. It is now 31 years old and I think it is time to recognize his name and be, because the legacy he left is not well known. Umandi used the name of a mountain in... [+]
Autobiography writing is, they say, the most effective tool for personal development, the most liberating. Pulling things away from the past and remembering them, it seems that it helps unleash the knots of the present. Yes, it helps to understand the present and to draw a... [+]
I have done a review from the announcement of the pandemic to the tragedy in Valencia and have concluded that the disastrous institutional management that lies and forupe as firewalls is constant of the ruling class.
We do not have a valid substitute ruler as long as this... [+]
November 19 is World Bathing Day. Even today, in the twenty-first century, many workers here in the Basque Country do not have the right to use the toilet in their working days. Many transport workers are an example of this.
Toilets are the key to public health and play a... [+]
The housing problem is a structural problem that comes from far away. What should be a human right is nothing more than a subjective right. I say that it is a fraud because, although all the institutions and all the political parties say nice words, they do not grasp the... [+]
Why concerted teaching?
The new Education Act adopted by the CAV against most public school officials aims to ensure that concerted education is free of charge through the financing of public authorities. The Spanish State has also announced a significant increase in public... [+]
On November 15, we will celebrate in Errenteria-Orereta the three days organized by the different agents that make up Euskal Herria Digitala. This is a feminist digital self-defense workshop and a talk about democratic digitalisation.
The members of Movie Tech will offer the... [+]
We have been hearing the views of Iñigo Errejón on the accusations of male violence in all media and social media for a few weeks. In addition, many controversies are emerging: how we should denounce women, how our sexual relations should be, recognition, silences of those who... [+]
There are those who say that elections serve only to give legal status to political decisions. And there are not very many who think that way. Okay, but with that, a lot of things are said, among other things, that real power, power, is out of that game.
But, in my view,... [+]
In recent decades I have worked in the Basque field, both in the Euskaldunization of adults in AEK, and in the defence of linguistic rights in the Observatory, or in favour of the normalization of the Basque country in the Council of Euskalgintza. Everywhere I have heard... [+]