Sixty-one entities from Poblenou have launched a week of mobilizations to demand the activation of 13 vacant lots reserved for public housing and to denounce the expulsion of residents from the neighborhood. The campaign, under the slogan Poblenou s'aixeca pel dret a l'habitatge, kicked off this Monday at the Poblenou Library with a mural and the presentation of the SOS Habitatge manifesto report.
The protest highlights a contradiction that the entities consider unsustainable. While plots intended for social housing remain undeveloped, the groups argue that the urban and economic transformation of Poblenou has pushed a traditionally popular neighborhood towards tourism and investment, with less daily life and less local commerce.
Entities reactivate pressure one year after signing the manifesto
A year ago, 56 groups signed the SOS Habitatge manifesto. Now, 61 entities have joined a week of events to demand concrete results from the administrations regarding housing.
Participants in Monday's presentation included the Associació de Veïns del Poblenou, the FAVB, and the Sindicat de Llogateres, initiators of the report released at the Poblenou Library. The first day also included the creation of a mural for the right to housing.
Joan Maria Soler, from AV Poblenou, summarized the neighborhood's diagnosis regarding the loss of resident population in the area.
"When people have to leave because they can't afford it, the neighborhood dies." - Joan Maria Soler, AV Poblenou
The entities link this departure of residents to the accumulated changes in Poblenou over recent years. In their view, urban planning and economic transformation have favored a model more oriented towards investment and tourism than towards maintaining the daily life of the neighborhood.
The week of events will tour the neighborhood until the Ateneu Popular la Flor de Maig
The program will continue with a photographic exhibition at the Sindicat de la Imatge and an outdoor film screening scheduled for Thursday in front of the Casino. On Friday, the event includes a funeral for the right to housing that will parade through the streets of Poblenou and end with a campout.
On Saturday, the mobilization will move to the land that the entities are claiming for social housing during a tour of the vacant lots. The tour will end at the Ateneu Popular la Flor de Maig.
Also participating in the launch event were residents affected by the explosion on carrer del Venero, who still do not have a definitive residential solution. Their presence served to underscore the fragility of access to housing in the area beyond the pending new developments.
The specific demand of the campaign is to activate 13 vacant plots designated for public housing, a demand that the organizations place as the focus of the entire week of mobilizations in Poblenou.