(31 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Barcelona, January 31, 2025
1. Protest outside Casa Orsola apartment building
2. Housing crisis activist speaking from Casa Orsola balcony
3. Various of tenant facing eviction being accompanied by protesters
4. Various of protesters
5. Overhead shot of protesters
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Raul Acuña, local resident:
“We must stay together. If we do that, is possible to reverse the situation. If we don’t do it, it’s likely we will be forced to move out of the city.”
7. Various of tenant facing eviction on balcony being cheered by protesters
STORYLINE:
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Barcelona’s iconic Casa Orsola apartment building on Friday to try to stop one of its tenants from being evicted.
The listed building has become a symbol of Barcelona’s housing crisis.
It was bought in 2021 by an investment fund and since then the new owners stopped renewing rental contracts with residents.
Neighbours and local media have been speculating that the new owners want to convert the building into luxury apartments for short-term lets for tourists.
Short-term lets are exempted from rent cap regulations, which were recently introduced by the local council amid a housing crisis in the regional Catalan capital.
The tenant facing eviction, Josep Torrent, has been living in his rented apartment for 23 years, and after years of legal battles, was set to be evicted on January 31.
However, the judicial negotiator and the Catalan police decided to postpone Friday’s eviction, saying it could be not carried out safely due to the protest outside.
A new date has been set for the early hours of February 4.
Protesters and activists said they would try to prevent another attempt at eviction.
A lack of affordable housing has become one of the leading concerns for Spain, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world, including the United States.
The average rent in Spain has doubled in the last 10 years.
The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros ($7.5) in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista.
AP video shot by Hernan Munoz
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