EU Housing ministers' Summit Cancelled.

Thursday October 12, 2006 18:57

by iosaf .:. ipsiphi

20 Ministers of Housing were supposed to hold a two day summit this forthcoming Monday & Tuesday. Ireland which has no such ministry might have gone along to observe. The location of the summit was to be Barcelona, which has only once before cancelled an international summit for "local security reasons" . The last cancellation was the World Bank meeting of 2001.

The right to housing campaign which has developed in Barcelona over the last years saw 15,000 ordinary people demonstrate peacefully on September 30th & then a "riot" occur last week over a redevelopment case. Central & city government sources as well those from the Housing movement offer conflicting accounts & reasons for the cancellation.

it all comes together. European are entitled to Housing. It is a right. Start with people - collectives - resist! then houses & playgrounds follow.

The "riot" which followed a local demonstration to save a local playground saw a rather innovative device used to fire "missile style" paint bombs at public buildings. The event was reported in this article entitled "the half a rood of rock" & the comments :-
http://indymedia.ie/article/78839

The ensuing media breakfast, lunch, dinner & tea saw a group of 200 professional troublemakers pitted against 3 police forces counting more than 50,000 agents. By Wednesday the "200" had grown to "250" & the Madrid ministry after consultation with Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional (who are no longer stationed in Catalunya) decided to cancel the EU summit "for fear of the bazooka" & the unseen powers of urban resistance . The current mayor of the city just assumed his job when the Zapatero government called former mayor Juan Clos into the Cabinet after many years of fueling real estate speculation & wasting public monies on vanity projects. Mr Hereu (current mayor) lamented the decision by central state government to undermine Barcelona's image as a jolly good place for politicians to hang out & talk social policy.

The main groups who are regularly mobilising (very professionally) peaceful protests for a sustainable housing program, and a solution to real estate speculation & further articulating housing as a right have promised to continue with their marches, camps & organisational activity. One spokesperson suggested that the proposed summit came uncomfortably close to the regional Catalan parliamentary elections on November 1st.

Indeed the former mayor of Barcelona got his new job as Spanish minister of Industry because that Cabinet minister Mr Montilla has been sent by dictat to be the PSOE/PSC candidate for president of Catalonia.

But at the level of politics on the street, this writer at least commends the clear leadership of the housing assemblies and collectives who have transformed general notions of squatting & the struggle against real estate speculation. They have done so for many years & their campaigns work so well on so many different levels & for so many different social classes. Their publicity stickers are ubiqitious in a society where the average home-leaving age has risen to 34. Their current slogan translates to English as You're not gonna have a house in your fucking life! .

it is all a filagree web... Here is the constitutional clause of the Spanish state which guarantees housing http://www.congreso.es/funciones/constitucion/titulo_1_...3.htm
In addition to this little legal & public order jewel - the current assembly has seen & clearly demonstrates continuity with previous Bcn campaigns. The Barcelona council is still fighting a legal case taken by such groups for failing to protect the citizens from the housing crises.

This is how global english language press has reported the cancellation :-
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?storyi...ore-4
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/10/europe/EU_GEN...g.php
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Spain_postpones_EU_meetin....html
http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_67...shtml

These are the main sites of the Housing Movement in Barcelona -

http://bcn.vdevivienda.net/
http://www.sindominio.net/miles/?q=image
http://vivienda.todaviapordeterminar.com/