Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Barcelona this afternoon to demand a general strike for housing. Plaza Urquinaona has been the starting point of the demonstration called by groups such as the Sindicat de Llogateres (Union of Tenants), the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) or the Sindicat d'Habitatge Socialista (Socialist Housing Union) and which has been joined by, among others, the unions CCOO, UGT and CGT.
"The housing legislature has begun and an electoral calendar will not set the pace for us, but we have our calendar, which is to go towards the general strike in the fall," said the spokesperson for the Llogateres Union, Carme Arcarazo. A commitment to a 24-hour strike that the class unions have assumed as their own.
The large influx of protesters has exceeded expectations and has forced initial plans to change. The route had to go down Via Laietana, pass through Plaza Sant Jaume (in front of the headquarters of the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council) and conclude in Plaza Catalunya, the same place where the first activists camped on Tuesday night. However, the organizers have decided that the march will head to the Arc del Triomf, with wider roads, to run towards Passeig de Gràcia.
Following the announcement of early elections that Sánchez made this morning, Arcarazo considered it "a good idea" for the Permanent Deputation of Congress to vote again on the repealed housing decrees, although he warned that "they simply serve to stop the coup."
"They will stop evictions or freeze rental prices, but they do not structurally change the housing system, they do not address the reasons that have brought us here," said the spokesperson for the Llogateres Union.
The Sindicat de Llogateres, the PAH, and the Sindicat d'Habitatge Socialista announced on Saturday that they were postponing to today the demonstration scheduled for that afternoon in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) due to the recommendations of the Civil Protection service of the Generalitat, which raised the risk level to the maximum due to the heavy rains.
This concentration had been called after the case of Olga, a resident of this town, the second most populated in Catalonia with almost 300,000 inhabitants, who committed suicide at the beginning of September, a few months after being evicted from the apartment in which she lived.
All of last week was especially active in Barcelona in demands. Monday dawned with several cuts on entry roads to the city and closed with a protest rally in front of the Palace of Congresses of Catalonia, taking advantage of the presence of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the Vanguardia Awards ceremony.
On Tuesday, following the example of Puerta del Sol in Madrid and several Spanish capitals, dozens of people started camping in Plaza Catalunya, the same place that hosted the Barcelona protest of March 15, 2011.
The initiative was neither led nor supported during the first two days by the Sindicat de Llogateres or other housing unions. However, on Thursday, after the cacerolada in Sant Jaume at 8:00 p.m., they did go to Plaza Catalunya after having announced it a few hours before.
