Spain protest movement fights housing evictions
18 February 2012 @ 17:51
As the pain of Spain's property crash continues to hit people hard, a nationwide movement is now fighting back.
Regular protests are being staged as banks repossess the homes of those who cannot afford loans taken out when the economic outlook was more rosy.
Young Spanish couples and immigrants are the two groups worst affected. Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos recently announced that the government would hold talks with Spain's banks to try and find ways to lessen the impact of the repossessions.
Housing 'a right not a luxury'
On the morning that the banks were due to take control of Ronale de la Cruz's house, more than 150 people turned up to stop the eviction.
"Having a house is not a luxury good, it's a basic right," said the 48-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, who bought the house in 2004 and lives there with his wife and four children.
"I'm one of many," he tells me.
"If the bank decides today to give me social housing, it doesn't solve anything. It's a problem that's affecting more and more people."
Protesters crowded around the front door as several police vans and cars arrived to enforce the repossession order on behalf of Ronale's bank.
Read the full article at BBC News
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