Anti-eviction Mobilizations (Spain)
Abstract
Forced evictions are increasingly becoming a global phenomenon. This trend has been particularly dramatic in Spain, where 713,791 evictions took place between 2008 and 2020, and has affected both homeowners and tenants to the extent that it became one of the central sociopolitical issues of the 2010s. To deal with it, anti-eviction mobilizations rely on short-term and long-term tactics. Short-term tactics focus on specific evictions at a particular time and place, imply a sense of urgency, and can be used before, during, or after the eviction has taken place. Long-term tactics build on educational and informational work, emphasize the structural nature of evictions, and aim at reforming mortgage laws and housing policies. Campaigns taking advantage of the Popular Legislative Initiative mechanism (Iniciativa Legislativa Popular, ILP) are the main example of such long-term tactics. Since 2010, anti-eviction mobilizations have thus managed to stop several thousand evictions, have rehoused hundreds of families, and reformed housing regulations and laws at the municipal and regional levels.