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The PAH Presents
FROM THE (HOUSING) BUBBLE TO COMMUNITY PUBLIC HOUSING
Chapter 1: The Bubble
One fine day, some years ago, a (very) Spanish Prime Minister
had a gust of inspiration
“X%&*@... I have a dream!
Such was his faith that he performed the SPANISH MIRACLE
I can turn bricks into Gold
he, he, he.... SPAIN-IS-GOING-WELL
This is how the housing bubble started, Spain gambled its wealth on a single card:
building endless houses in order to sell… mortgages”
So-called experts told us: relax,
as the supply of housing rises, prices will go down
What happened was exactly the opposite
Housing prices went through the roof and so did corruption and speculation.
Spain turned into a mortgage flea market”
You won’t find it cheaper, don’t let it get away,
Mortgages Foreeever...!
Designer Mortgage, pays for your new sofa.
Cheaper when you mortgage your daddy too! What every young couple wants!
***-Mortgage, last chance to buy! Migrant worker, integrate, get into debt!
You say “dump”, we say “potential”!
A few people became very rich
And hundreds of thousands of families got into debt for life
Did we buy yachts, luxury cars and holidays in the Bahamas?
No!… to gain access to a basic right:
a home in which to live
Just sign here, we’ll do the rest
It wasn’t a state of collective insanity.
They deceived us, both the bankers and the PP and PSOE governments,
hostage to their interests.
The Spanish financial system is probably the safest in the world
It was not a miracle, it was a mirage, and as such, it faded away.
But that’s not gold, that’s... only a brick.
As the bubble grew a few made a lot of money
but when it burst a lot of people lost everything.
It’s the same pattern with every capitalist crisis.
Not very fair, is it?
Unemployment rose sharply and the ECONOMY collapsed
The neoliberal mantra ‘if you go down, you’re on your own’
was conveniently reversed; banks were “rescued” with our taxes.
Did we get anything in return? NO, quite the contrary,
we got cuts and foreclosures.
And we came to feel the full weight of an unjust law
designed to protect financial institutions.
The blah-blah-blah… law states that you have to leave your home
but you’ll still have to pay for it and for our abusive interest rates,
we’ll take whatever you earn in the future,
and you’ll carry the life-long stigma of being… a Defaulter
Nooooo!
Chapter 2: The PAH (Platform of People Affected by Mortgages)
Do you have mortgage problems?
Difficulties keeping up with your payments?
Have you stopped paying, and is your bank harassing you?
Did you get your court summons yet?
Do you have a date for the auction?
Do you have an eviction date?!!
WORRIED? ANXIOUS? ASHAMED? DESPERATE?
Don’t do anything silly, you are not alone.
You must be clear about two things:
1. IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT
2. NO BANK, NO HOUSE, NO DEBT IS WORTH YOUR HEALTH OR YOUR LIFE.
But, what can I do?
Find out about your nearest PAH on our website
There are over 160 PAHs across the country
You are not alone, we are many. Come to one of our meetings,
we are educating ourselves, becoming experts in mortgage law,
empowering and helping one another.
The PAH is achieving a lot: stopping evictions,
ensuring social housing and cancelling debts.
You’ll learn to negotiate and if your negotiation fails,
we’ll put pressure where it’s due.
Hello, I’ve come to talk about my case.
No, I don’t have time for this, get out!
We’ve discovered we’re defenceless alone, but unstoppable together.
Yes we can! Yes we can!
Ehhh… come in, come in...
Our slogan is YES WE CAN! because… WE CAN!
Chapter 3: ILP (Popular Legislative Initiative) and "Escrache"
We gathered 1.5 million signatures supporting a law that would stop all evictions,
provide social housing and cancel debts once the house is relinquished.
The European Justice Tribunal found Spanish mortgage law to be illegal,
abusively biased against the debtor.
Neither 1.5 million signatures nor a European tribunal sentence
made our government change its position, so we went to find the congress members
at home and in their workplace to appeal to them directly.
Yes we can! Yes we can!
Everthing was in the hands of the Popular Party politicians
who held an absolute majority.
They had 2 options: voting green saved thousands of families.
Voting red condemned families to misery in order to save the banks.
And what did they do?
this one! this one! this one!
It’s a NO from me.
The new law approved by the PP: DOESN’T address our demands
DOESN’T solve the problem DOESN’T avoid all this suffering
What now? Can´t we do something?
Of course we can, it’s only a matter of time.
Plus, you won’t end up in the streets because we WON’T allow it.”
Chapter 4: Community Public Housing
There are more than 3 million empty flats in Spain. Many belong to the banks.
They are neglected, slowly deteriorating, waiting for prices to go up again
while thousands of families are losing their homes.
It´s so simple, basic and logical, that even a child understands this better than the Government.
If banks have so many empty flats… why can we not live in one of them?
ELEMENTARY!
The PAH Community Public Housing functions by moving evicted families
back into empty flats owned by banks.
We bailed out these banks with public funds and didn’t receive anything in return,
only cutbacks. These flats rightfully belong to the citizens.
This is not an “illegal occupation”, it’s a “legitimate recuperation”.
The PAH has already reclaimed 13 apartment blocks and will carry on at this pace
until the banks acknowledge their social responsibility.
Resonsibili-what???
and for as long as the state remains passive and incapable of responding
to the social emergency.
The social function the PAH performs is not optional,
it’s a duty felt by citizens organising to demand that
the fundamental right to housing be fulfilled.
Yes dad, we really can… Of course we can!
TO BE CONTINUED…
ENGLISH