The organization hung a large banner, 10 meters wide by 7 meters high, at the public facility, which is currently disused. Under the slogan ‘Speculators, out of Sabadell. No more homeless in our city’, the PAH aimed to highlight the difficult situation in the housing market. According to their data, over 350 evictions occur annually in the city, an average of almost seven per week. Furthermore, they point out that half of family income is allocated to rent, and the average age to access first-time homeownership has risen to 38 years.
The choice of the barracks as the location for the banner is not coincidental. The PAH describes it as a "symbol of the abandonment of the right to housing by institutions and, at the same time, of popular resistance for the defense of life." The building had been occupied by about forty homeless people last autumn but was evicted by the City Council citing risks of collapse.
The anniversary was officially celebrated this Saturday with a gathering in Plaça del Treball, in the Gràcia neighborhood. The event included the participation of various collectives and unions linked to the housing struggle, such as the anticapitalist unions CGT and CNT, the feminist organization Justa Revolta, the social center L’Obrera, the cultural center Can Capablanca, and a representative from the Confederació Sindicat d’Habitatge de Catalunya. The day concluded with musical performances by Abril and Remei de Ca la Fresca.
The PAH was founded during the worst moments of the economic crisis following the bursting of the real estate bubble, when thousands of families lost their homes due to unpaid mortgages, yet still owed the debt. Subsequently, the problem shifted to rental housing. Over these 15 years, the organization has provided advice to hundreds of people through weekly assemblies, creating a significant support network. They have organized numerous protest actions, including sit-ins at bank branches and public administration offices.
Their main demands include increasing the public housing stock, improving social support protocols, and opposing bank bailouts and the actions of speculative funds and energy multinationals. They have acted as mediators between administrations and financial institutions to secure social rents, and they assert that the lack of guarantees for the right to housing forces many families into occupying properties.
It is worth remembering that Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution recognizes the right to decent and adequate housing and urges public authorities to promote the necessary conditions and regulate land use to prevent speculation.
