The spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants' Union, Alicia del Río, has announced that the organization is working on calling a general strike for the right to housing, a mobilization that, she advanced, will take place during the month of November.
Del Río made this announcement hours after the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, communicated the dissolution of the Cortes and the early election for November 29. In her statements to the media, she made it clear that the movement will not adjust its strategy to the political calendar: “This fight will not wait for any electoral calendar.”
The spokesperson has maintained that the future of the movement involves “the construction of a general strike for the right to housing,” and has defended that it is “the only way” to guarantee a response to the demands that, she said, the people are raising. “Whoever governs,” she emphasized.
Criticism of Parliament and demands on political parties
In her speech, Alicia del Río accused the Cortes of having been “kidnapped by rentism” and questioned that the deputies have legislated in favor of the interests of property owners and investment funds. “The honorable deputies legislated in favor of rentism,” she criticized.
In this context, she urged political parties to specify during the election campaign whether they will adopt measures such as those demanded by the housing movement. “Are you going to introduce measures on housing, those that the people are demanding, those that the street is demanding?” she asked, while warning that this issue will mark the electoral debate.
Del Río explained that there is still no fixed date for the general strike and indicated that conversations with trade unions continue to confirm the date in the coming days.
Demands extended to more than fifty cities
Among the main demands of the movement are indefinite rental contracts, a “drastic” reduction in prices, and the expropriation of vulture funds, as detailed by the union spokesperson. Del Río added that these demands have been extended and proclaimed in more than fifty cities.
In addition, she called for other mobilized groups in areas such as health, pensions, education, and wages to join, with the aim of boosting the call and strengthening pressure on the streets.
“We are not going to take any step back and we are going to advance in a program of rights that guarantees that housing is a right and not a means of profit for a few,” she affirmed. And she added: “Until life is put at the center and we kick out the speculators, come and build with us a general strike that will be historic in this country.”
The Sol encampment will continue as an organizing space
Asked about the continuity of the housing encampment in Madrid, Alicia del Río assured that there is no date for its end and defended that the protest will continue to function as an organizing space for the movement.
“The sovereignty of the encampment lies in the General Assembly of the encampment,” she pointed out. In that vein, she defined the camp as “a spearhead of counter-power” that, in her opinion, reminds “Mrs. Ayuso and all the politicians of this country” that the popular power initiated there has not ended. “This wave of indignation is unstoppable and we are not going to stop,” she insisted.
Regarding the elections, the spokesperson rejected that the Tenants' Union wants to enter into “electoral dynamics” and defended that the organization maintains its own agenda linked to the housing movement. “We do not get involved in electoral dynamics. That is for professional politicians,” she declared.
She also recalled that the union demanded that the Government approve measures that it considers “brave” in housing matters. “We already said that if the government was not capable of carrying out brave measures like the Maricarmen decree, then this government made no sense,” she indicated.
Pressure on the streets, whoever governs
Asked about a possible scenario of a PP and Vox government, Del Río responded that, regardless of who is at the head of the Executive, the housing movement will continue to pressure from the streets.
“The elections will be marked by what we, who are leading from the streets, say about the path to the right to housing,” she affirmed. The spokesperson also maintained that the mobilizations of recent days have modified the political debate and have allowed the introduction of measures that, she said, were not on the table before.
“Everything has changed in these eight days. In these eight days, the people have learned that they have much more power than any party, than any rentier,” she assured. “We have twisted the arm of rentism and have managed to introduce measures that were not on the table,” she added.
