More than 30 associations will join this Saturday in three Canary Islands cities, where Lanzarote will also be present, to defend the right to decent housing and demand that it can no longer be treated as a commodity, while urging administrations to take "real and not cosmetic measures."
On the island, the concentration will take place at 12:00 in the morning, at the Casa Amarilla, according to the spokesperson for Izquierda Unida Lanzarote, Jorge Peñas, on the program Buenos días, Lanzarote of Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero.
The spokesperson for Izquierda Unida Canaria Lanzarote, Jorge Peñas, stated in a statement that “it is unacceptable that Lanzarote has become a territory where speculation and real estate business take precedence over the fundamental right to decent housing. We support this mobilization because we believe in the need for courageous public policies that guarantee access to affordable housing for the local population and put a stop to the rental bubble and the abuse of tourist homes.”
The concentrations, which will also take place in other parts of Spain, will take place in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) at 12:00 this Saturday, and have been convened by the Derecho al Techo platform in conjunction with these thirty associations of different types.
In a press conference held this Thursday in the Plaza del Pilar of the Gran Canaria capital, where one of the Saturday concentrations will take place, the spokesperson for the platform and lawyer, Isabel Saavedra, pointed out that it is necessary to organize and support vulnerable families and that they trust that this movement can reach the administrations and force them to take measures.
Among those they request, the paralysis of evictions of vulnerable families, since they have detailed that during 2024 the data reflect that in the Canary Islands 4.8 families were evicted per day on average.
"Although evictions are stopped, almost five continue to occur every day, so that means that the measures of the social shield are not being carried out," Saavedra remarked, who added that in many occasions families with a vulnerability report are being evicted from their homes.
They will also call for lowering the price of rent and regulating a market "that really should never have become one," since the Canary Islands population receives the lowest salaries in the State and, even so, has some of the highest average rental costs in the country.
Therefore, they have indicated that according to studies by real estate portals, currently 15 euros per square meter is paid in the Guanarteme neighborhood, which means that a house of about 60 meters would cost 950 euros per month.
In that sense, Saavedra has assured that one of the measures that could be taken is the declaration of stressed areas, and has lamented that the Government of the Canary Islands, which has the powers in the matter, has not yet taken action on the matter despite the fact that the state housing law allows it.
"If the Government of the Canary Islands does not agree, then nothing can be done, because the city councils, although they can ask for it, do not have competence," insisted the spokesperson for the platform, who highlighted that the city of Barcelona, which has already applied these stressed areas, has seen how the price of rent has fallen by 6 percent.
However, she has admitted that there is a "trap" and that is that the owners are moving to rent more for seasons, so she has called to monitor more and inspect this type of behavior.
Because, she has added, "what cannot be done is to think that in society everyone thinks the same and wants homes to be in the hands of vulnerable families, since there will be people who are speculators and only want to make money," rejecting the idea that stressed areas are useless.
At the same time, the conveners will request in these concentrations that the Sareb, the so-called bad bank, be prohibited from evicting families.
Likewise, they will focus on the phenomenon of large holders, who acquire many homes "to keep them empty", and have pointed out that there are more than 211,000 closed homes in the archipelago, according to data from the regional government itself, and more than 180,000 families requesting public or affordable housing.
The spokesperson for the platform, asked about the tax incentive measures that will be included in this year's income statement in terms of rent, has valued that an attempt is made to "favor" the owners who make homes available for rent.
"We cannot criminalize the owners, because there are landlords who are good landlords, but it is true that the bad ones are very bad. So, what must be done is to reward the good ones, in the sense that they are guaranteed as a city council that they will receive their rent," Saavedra defended and then added that the majority of families "stop eating to be able to pay their rent."
These concentrations will be the first vindictive activity within a broader program in different neighborhoods of the archipelago.
