Protests in Spain heat up as thousands fear eviction and will fight ‘real estate terrorism’
Spain’s financial crisis has resulted in an eviction epidemic in Madrid and now the protests are packing the streets.
“They are about to evict me, and I’m fighting to stay because I don’t have anywhere else to go,” one woman told CNN. “I haven’t paid my mortgage because I can’t — I don’t have any work.”
The country’s unemployment rate stands at 26% — its highest level ever — and the situation is even worse for young people, with more than 55% of 16 to 24-year-olds out of work.
photo Kadellar
With no income, many are finding themselves unable to afford the mortgage payments on homes that are no longer worth the prices paid for them.
“For every eviction, an occupation!” they shout, accusing the banks and authorities of “real estate terrorism.”
“The next eviction should be at the Palace of Moncloa! [the Spanish prime minister’s official residence]” runs another chant; a few short years ago, most Spaniards would have shied away from such overtly political protests.
Activist Dante Scherma, 24, says Spain’s troubled history had left many wary of becoming involved in political issues: “Forty years of Franco’s dictatorship made people disconnect from politics.”
Riot police clashed with protesters in Madrid during impromptu demonstrations over the month as the prime minister denied on television that he had accepted under-the-table payments. The corruption and the difficulties on the personal lives of these citizens seems to be the root cause of an endless cycle of protests and violence.
“We use the social networks to communicate,” explains a protester to CNN, brandishing her smartphone. “This is the tool that has permitted us to fight together, and to feel that we are not alone.”
