The StadsSalonsUrbains lecture series are back with an amazing line-up of speakers from across Europe and beyond! This year we will focus on struggles over urban property while drawing on empirical and theoretical accounts from cities across the globe.
The Plataforma de Afectadas por la Hipoteca (Platform for People Affected by Foreclosures) is a nonpartisan citizen movement in which people directly affected by foreclosures and evictions, and their allies, organise together to demand the right to secure housing. The PAH carries out actions in many different fields (political, media, judicial, communication, social work, among others) to promote legal changes that prevent the violation of fundamental rights due to foreclosures and evictions. This talk will focus on the rise in evictions and foreclosures in Spanish cities, and how these events have burst the myth of housing security on which the financialisation of housing is based. It reports how the PAH has organised affected residents and how a social support system has been put in place. The talk will start with a brief introduction on the context of housing in Spain, explain how the PAH emerged, how it has evolved to focus not only on mortgages but also on rent and occupations, how we organise ourselves, and the achievements of the movement both at the legislative level and empowerment of communities. The talk will also illustrate examples of different campaigns.
Part of the 2021/22 StadsSalonsUrbains lecture series 'Cities for People, not for Profit. From private ownership to communal stewardship'.
Welcome to join us in person at the Beurschouwburg café (don't forget your CovidSafeTicket!) or online via the StadsSalonsUrbains-channel.
Santiago Mas de Xaxàs Faus is a member of The Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH). PAH is a grass root organisation born in February 2009 with the intention of giving a public response to the evictions of many families who could not afford to pay their mortgages. Today we also support families that cannot pay their rents or have been forced to occupy empty homes due to a lack of public housing. PAH makes visible the violence of such processes, informs the public opinion and demands and proposes political solutions to Public Administrations. We take actions in many different fields (political, trials, communicative, emotional, etc.) to people's empowerment and promote legal changes that respond to those who are directly affected, and in a broader framework, propose solutions to fulfil the right to housing for all the citizenship.
Awarded with "European Citizens' Prize" by the European Parliament in 2013, today we are more than 250 nodes distributed throughout Spain, where affected and solidarity activists are organised to denounce these dramatic situations consequence of public policies aimed at converting housing into a business, instead of ensuring that this was a right guaranteed by law, and proper housing policies.
PAH is a horizontal, free of charge, extremely political but a nonpolitical party movement with no support from any ONG, nonprofit, trade union or organisation of any kind. We are an organised civil society fighting for the right to housing.
The real estate bubble, the housing market financialization, the mortgage scam and the banking malpractice are at the origin of the crisis that today condemns millions of people. The financial entities, in total connivance with the political power, have secured legislation that overprotects them and have obtained multimillion-dollar benefits. For this reason, from the PAH we denounce the political and financial elite as the main culprits of the current situation, and we promote legislative changes at both local and state levels to ensure that the right to decent housing is guaranteed for all citizens.
Should you want to learn more about the PAH's collective actions best (and other) practices, check out their publication 'LA PAH - A handbook' (download available in English and Spanish).