Housing Activists in Madrid Protest Public Sector Evictions

Key Takeaways

• The Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) Vallekas held a protest tour labeling public entities as participants in housing evictions.
• Activists argue that government-funded organizations, municipal companies, and state-backed financial entities are displacing vulnerable residents or imposing unsustainable rental conditions.

Targeted Entities and Grievances

• Provivienda: Despite receiving public funding, it allegedly forces families into three-month temporary contracts and exerts excessive control over personal finances.
• EMVS (Municipal Housing and Land Company): Accused of maintaining empty properties while evicting long-term residents to raise rents for 'affordable' re-rental.
• AVS (Community of Madrid Housing Agency): Residents in areas like U.V.A. de Hortaleza report decades of waiting for property deeds, while the agency now imposes new, restrictive contract requirements that threaten existing occupants.
• CaixaBank/InmoCaixa: The sale of former 'Obra Social' social housing blocks to private investment funds has put hundreds of families at risk of eviction.
• Sareb (Bad Bank): Controlled by 51% public capital, it is criticized for selling assets to vulture funds, executing evictions, and demanding residents relocate away from their essential social and medical support networks.

Activist Demands

• Immediate moratorium on all evictions from public and third-sector-managed housing.
• Implementation of secure social rental contracts for all Sareb-managed properties.
• Full recovery and protection of former 'La Caixa' social housing stock.