Bentaberri’s rental platform has started the year with a new wave of protests and cutbacks. On 13 January, an assembly of neighbours was held in the neighbourhood to give a new impetus to the platform. Some 200 people met and set up a number of working groups to deal with the future. In fact, in the last year they have been tried to evict twice, and 510 families are at risk of being on the street.

On 17 January, a massive concentration took place in the José María Sert Square in Bentaberri to denounce the speculation that is taking place on the "vulture funds". Summary of this mobilization Save our neighborhood! It was broadcast on social networks within a few days of being captured in the video. They want to show that they're alive.

Txomin and Josetxo Cañada have been living in Bentaberri’s official protective housing for more than two decades. Cañada, a member and spokesperson for the Rental Platform, acknowledged that the January concentration was “decisive”: “it has given strength to the resident movement”. Txomin, on the other hand, knows very well what they're fighting against. In March of last year, the company Testa Residencial tried to evict her and her family, which currently manages protected housing. The Stop Evictions platform managed to paralyze the process with the mediation of the City Hall of Donostia-San Sebastián and the General Boards of Gipuzkoa.

“It’s very hard to tell you they want to say goodbye, but it’s necessary. We believe that there has been eviction at Bentaberri and we have to continue working to prevent it,” Txomin stressed. Currently, another neighbor, Donostiarra Victoria Noriega, is at risk of eviction since last November. Despite the fact that the eviction claim has been paralysed and postponed, the eviction order has not yet been lifted. “We have helped Victoria from the start and we will not allow it to be evicted. We will continue to fight for him to stay in the neighborhood.”

Working groups on maintenance, communication and legislation, among others, have been set up. ‘The housing situation has worsened and garages are flooded. We have a lot of breakdowns and, for example, if an elevator doesn’t work, it takes about twenty days to solve it,” explains Txomin. Moreover, communication with the housing management company Testa Residencial is not easy. “They have an office in Madrid and if something happens you have to call them by phone. Communication with them is like talking to a wall."

They therefore want to review all the developments that have taken place in recent decades. On the other hand, Cañada explained that they plan to do an X-ray of Bentaberri's families: “We will conduct a survey in the neighborhood to find out the number of people who live. We also want to count births in Bentaberri and those who have retired.”

Having held many meetings with the Basque Government in Vitoria-Gasteiz, they have been asked time and again to solve the Bentaberri problem. To do so, they would have to negotiate with the Blackstone investment fund, but, for the time being, they have not shown any willingness to do so. Txomin is clear about what he has to do to make the next meeting effective: ‘If we do things right, we can meet with the Basque Government in six months’ time. We have to take all the information to the government, if they're not going to tell us what they're always. We have to put the arguments on the table to assess our situation once and for all.'

Words and actions

Castañeda says things went wrong from the beginning: ‘The responsibility for what has happened to us lies with the Basque Government. They don’t like us talking about them in the media, but it’s time to start talking clearly.” In 1994, the Basque Government promoted the competition for the construction of 540 public housing for rent in Bentaberri. It awarded Metrovacesa and Vallehermoso the surface right to 75 years. The City Hall of Donostia-San Sebastian also presented the competition and resorted to the adjudication of the dwellings, as the process was not carried out correctly. But the courts weren't right.

“Several representatives of the City Hall have recognised that the promotion of Bentaberri was very badly done. Eneko Goia and Iñaki Gurrutxaga gave us reason, but they told us that their hands were tied. The former councillor of Urbanism, Enrique Ramos, also admitted in a municipal plenary that the procedure was inadequate. The City Hall has tried to mediate, but they have not given us a solution to a real problem,” Cañada stressed.

Bentaberri's 510 state-run housing units were drafted in 1998, and when tenants started signing the contracts they met with an unforeseen event. When the promotion was announced, it was said that it would be a rented home, and that after 12 years those homes could be purchased. However, Cañada has pointed out that this possibility was removed from the contracts that were concluded earlier. “What we were offered and what we signed had nothing to do with it. The promotion offered the possibility of living in Bentaberri for a total of 37,000 pesetas. We thought the lottery hit us, but we soon realized that we had been haired. They took us out of the other housing promotions."

Therefore, in 1999 they decided to create a platform to work for the interests of the local neighbours and neighbours. The initial objective was to obtain the option to buy these dwellings. “When the deadline for a 12-year contract was met, we saw that we could only continue to live for rent,” said Cañada. Then, Aloku negotiated with the housing managers so that the contract extensions were not from year to year but five years. In the following years, the platform maintained the same line of work.

In 2016, the situation changed dramatically. The real estate Testa Residencial was in charge of purchasing the official housing of Bentaberri, and rent prices increased. ‘We started to pay EUR 300 and we have gone on to pay an average of EUR 800. Rent prices depend on the CPI index, but while the amount to be paid increases, the salaries of many families are maintained or lowered in the same way. We haven't been able to buy housing, but we've been mortgaged. We two have paid over EUR 200,000 in 21 years. We must not forget that these are officially protected homes for rent. The most expensive in the state are in Bentaberri,” Txomin stressed.

The real estate Testa Residencial was acquired two years ago by the U.S. investment fund Blackstone and from 2028 the homes will cease to be official protection. Cañada has pointed out that this will harm the situation of neighbours and neighbours: ‘They may rescind contracts and increase rentals to their letter. The Basque Government is in time to resolve the problem.

To do so, you must sit down and negotiate with the Blackstone fund.’ In particular, Txomin has been convinced that the clashes with the Blackstone Fund that have taken place in other countries will also be seen in Donostia-San Sebastián. “What will the Basque Government do if they throw us out? Neighbours can move as far as we can, but the responsibility lies with public institutions. In this case, the Government and the City Hall of Donostia-San Sebastián’.

Alokabide’s main goal today is that 510 Bentaberri families stay in the neighborhood. “We don’t want to give anything, we just want to keep what we have,” Txomin stressed. “It’s a city problem, and the neighborhood goes to the devil if there’s no solution. Guests here live thanks to us. Here's life and movement. We've done the neighborhood."

Other 300 families at risk

The Stop Desahucios group reported on Tuesday that the real estate fund Azora has acquired the real estate Vascongada and that 300 families residing in Donostia-San Sebastián are at risk of eviction. On Wednesday, for its part, a press conference with the City Hall of the Biscay town offered more details about the event. Nearby is the headquarters of the Property Vascongada, in Calle Ijentea, number 2.

In particular, tomorrow, 15 February, at 12:00 a.m., will be concentrated in front of the Ertzaintza headquarters in Vitoria-Gasteiz. “Vascongada and Azora will not be given the opportunity to expel tenants and speculatively increase rents,” said Rosa García, spokesman for Stop Evictions. A letter signed by dozens of tenants and tenants has been registered in the City Hall. The letter conveys the news to the City Hall of Donostia-San Sebastian and asks him to work to prevent redundancies.

In 2013, the Azora Fund acquired 3,000 VPO in Madrid, which meant the expulsion of most tenants, who increased their incomes by more than 100%. “In Barcelona they are playing the same game and now they have come to San Sebastian to continue doing business,” García stressed. Most of the homes Azora has acquired are located in Gros, in the streets Berbirmingham, Gran Vía and Zabaleta, among others. Most are old rentals – between EUR 600 and 800 – but there are also more expensive ones.

The young Laura Fernández, who was arrested yesterday, was also present at the hearing on Wednesday. He lives in Gros with a roommate, and each month they pay a rent of 1,600 euros. However, they recently received the Vascongada bureaucracy to inform them that they are no longer going to renew their contract. “Many homes abandoned by Vascongada to prepare for the arrival of Azora. It is a question of furtive evictions,’ the Stop Evictions platform has denced. “They are different from the layoffs made by the banks, because they have a legal basis. Tenants give them rental prices that they can't afford. The company Vascongada has not extended its contracts because it knew that, according to the latest housing law, a period of seven years would be opened. Instead, they have suspended the contracts and sold the company to a vulture fund.’

The platform considers that there are many families who have received the letter from Vascongada and have left their homes. In this regard, they have stressed that many others are "willing to fight and fight" for the "battle". Since Oran there has been no eviction, only letters have been sent to the neighbours to show the end of the contracts. The Stop Evictions platform expects evictions to arrive sooner or later to prevent eviction. “This Spanish fund manages around 13,000 homes and, seeing how it has acted in Madrid and Barcelona, the neighbours are preparing for what can happen. We are not going to admit layoffs."