Tag: Constitution

Gentrification Drives Up House Prices In Barcelona

13 March 2017 – El Periódico

It never rains but it pours: property prices in Barcelona are rising in a continuous and alarming way; a bullish process that echoes the trend seen in residential rental prices in recent times. Only those who are very optimistic – or very cynical – will be able to argue that these price rises are not a reflection of the improvement in the economy and that the laws of the market are as follows: the more pressure in terms of demand (from property buyers), the more the supply benefits (owners and real estate companies alike). According to all indications, the worst of the crisis is over, but the reality of the daily economy is far from the one seen during the years before the bubble burst, in 2007-2008 (and probably will not be in the next few years): average salaries have decreased, employment is more precarious and young people looking to emancipate themselves are finding it very difficult to put a roof over their heads.

But Barcelona is fashionable, a phenomenon that seems unlikely to end (nor would that be desirable) – and moreover, available land for new homes is in short supply. The combination of these two factors is fuelling the purchase of properties as investments, in many cases by foreigners and, is leading to a price spiral that, according to reliable samples, means that 80% of the homes currently up for sale cost at least €200,000. Below that price, properties abound only in the neighbourhoods of Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Horta-Guinardó.

The Town Hall, led by Ada Colau, has taken some initiatives to alleviate these perverse effects of Barcelona’s appeal, but its legal and economic capacity is limited. The problem requires coordinated action with other administrations if a mockery is not to be made of the Constitution, which establishes that: all Spaniards have the right to decent housing and that the public authorities must ensure as such, “by regulating the use of land in accordance with the general interest to avoid speculation”.

Barcelona, at the forefront in many periods in history, still has time to show that success does not have to denaturalise a city to the point of turning against its inhabitants and driving them out through a large-scale gentrification process. Nobody wants Barcelona to end up like Venice, a paradigm of a city, with lots of glamour and many visitors but with increasingly little soul.

Original story: El Periódico

Translation: Carmel Drake

Constitutional Court Temporarily Supends Basque Housing Law

18 April 2016 – Cinco Días

The Constitutional Court (TC) has admitted the appeal filed by the central Government against the Basque Housing Law, which provides for the temporary expropriation of homes by banks, amongst other measures, and has suspended it as a precautionary measure whilst it decides whether or not it complies with the Constitution.

The Government filed an appeal of unconstitutionality against the Basque Housing Law, which, in addition to the aforementioned measure, makes provisions for other initiatives, such as the imposition of a fee on empty homes and the recognition of the subjective right to a home, which will be enforceable in court.

The Basque Parliament approved the Housing Law in June 2015, following lobbying by PSE and with the support of EH Bildu and UPyD. It was rejected by the PP and the PNV. In its appeal, Mariano Rajoy’s Government requested that the admission procedure for the law be temporarily suspended until the substance of the matter has been resolved, as it is allowed to do under the Organic Law of the TC.

The court of guarantees issued a ruling in which it declared the appeal admissible and suspended the law, which does not determine the final outcome, but rather grants a period of five months, which may be renewed, during which time the aforementioned law will not apply and a decision can be taken regarding its future.

In its acceptance and suspension ruling, the TC announced that it will transfer the file “to the Congress of Representatives and the Senate, through their respective Presidents, as well as the Basque Government and Basque Parliament, through their respective Presidents, so that they can make an appearance and formulate the allegations that they deem appropriate, within a period of fifteen days.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake