The headline of a newspaper almost 15 years ago said: "The 40 official Arramendi housing units [hereinafter VPO] are about to be awarded." The tenants of portals 3, 5 and 7 of the Pontika de Errenteria-Orereta neighborhood would pay a maximum of 450 euros per month and "after 15 years", he said, "the tenants will be able to buy a VPO housing."

This deadline is extended on 16 April of this year, the date on which the agreement signed by the Department of Housing of the Basque Government with the promoter Jaureguizar expires, which allows the latter to sell the homes.

The reason is that, among the more than 30 neighbors who live in the area, "to this day, there is no one who can buy it". This is explained by Alfonso Gabarri, who lives in block 3: "The rent paid so far is nothing, and those of us who live here can't deal with a mortgage," the mayor said.

This is a 70-year-old couple who lives on the first floor of this portal, but also his own: he has four children and lives from what his father earns on the markets, "exactly," because his wife has no work.

The neighbour has denounced that "there is no option" to buy, since whoever wants or does not buy a home on the arrival of 16 April will have to abandon it, since the intention of the owner company is to sell those accommodations, as you may know.

The head of Jaureguizar in Gipuzkoa, Estitxu Aranburu, has stated that "they can do no more than comply with the law" [he did not want to make further statements in HITZA], but the neighbor has argued that lengthening the rental regime of these rooftops or is not an option of the owners.

Former neighbour Begoña Artetxe has also said that this is a question of voluntarism. The young man, who this year would be a landlord of one of these apartments, admitted that he was forced to leave, and that he resides since last August in the campsite of La Rosaleda in Oiartzun.

It was precisely Artetxe who created the Arramendi Platform about 2 years ago, together with his neighbor Marian Lino, who also left Arramendi after Artetxe, but has not even wanted to be detached from his home.

Artetxe wanted to make it clear that it is no coincidence that dozens of neighbors are at risk of staying "on the street": "The versions that have been told to the landlords of these years are all; a barbarity." He stayed there for 7 years, but is also inhabited since the first occupation of the buildings, in art, Lino.

Artetxe has considered "misleading" the information about his future to those who have been filling their houses over this time, and has been launched to justify it.

Varied versions

"They've told us everything," the creator lamented, "to Marian [Lino] and the former were told to teach them the weight that after 15 years they didn't know what was going to happen, that there was still no regulation." Another neighbour was informed that, after the fiftieth anniversary, he would have a purchase option and would be dissatisfied with what had been invested so far in the rental, in this case, of the final price.

This discount does not exist. "Those of us who live here should pay the same price as a shopper who comes from outside," says Gabarri. The latter was given the following explanation: "Once the deadline has passed they will be put on sale, but reassure them, then something will be done to keep the rentals," he added.

Artetxe recognizes that they gave him more information, since when they learned about the possibility of buying they did not mention the discounts. In any case, he understood that the purchase was optional and that he would not have to leave the house if there were no conditions to obtain it.

Asked about the content of the contract signed, it proceeds in the same way: "Literally what the document says is as follows: ‘Minimum rental of 15 years’. This minimum is noteworthy: "He says at least and not at all. It doesn't even mention what's going to happen next."

Fraudulent management

The camp has also censored the execution of leases and vacant housing contracts that have taken place since 2007 because it considers that the extensions of the agreements have been "fraudulent".

By law, the responsibility for complying with the empty floors lies with Etxebide and therefore with the Basque Government, while the former neighbour has denounced that Jaureguizar has decided who was going to occupy them. "Etxebide sent the lists to the company and the company started making a selection of jobs. Those who were likely to become buyers in the future were awarded."

He explained that the contract extensions were similar, i.e. that instead of Etxebide, they were managed directly by Jaureguizar. "The Basque Government has been completely unleashed, has been disconnected from us for years," he added.

Ignorance is widespread among the residents of the Paseo de Arramendi, who will not receive official notification until April 16. In view of the market prices of housing, any other "unimaginable" rental for the family of Gabarri, which now pay a rental of 366 euros, is even more vulnerable for the residents of Pontika, who have lost their seniority as tenants of housing for public rent. "We don't go anywhere," he said firmly, "I have four children and I can't stay in the street, I can't go anywhere else."

Artetxe emphasizes the agreement signed between the parties for the construction of the building: The City Hall of Errenteria ceded the plot to the Basque Government for the construction of protected housing, and Jaureguizar had public funds for the construction of them.

"People who were vulnerable 15 years ago are still vulnerable," he added. The demand is clear: maintain official protection rents and ensure that residents pay their income on the basis of their income.