The purchase of Casa Orsola - groundbreaking housing initiative or dangerous precedent?
Casa Orsola was built in the early 20th century by Italian businessman Joan Orsola; it is a beautiful modernist apartment building, located in the Eixample district in central Barcelona. However, in recent years it has become a symbol of the housing crisis, as tenants have been priced out by real estate speculation. In an unprecedented move, Barcelona City Council and Hàbitat3 are planning to acquire the building in order to halt the eviction processes and convert the apartments into protected housing. Lea Beliaeva Bander returns to ‘Filling the Sink’ to report on this initiative which has sparked widespread criticism. We talk to Natalia Martínez, Director of Communication and Strategic Alliances at Hàbitat3, about social housing policies and their efficacy in resolving the housing crisis in the long term. Host Beth Cohen explores what the joint purchase of Casa Orsola would mean for the residents and how the project would function on a practical level. Plus we meet Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson from the Tenants’ Union, who analyses the motives behind the purchase and expresses her reservations about the acquisition of private property with public funds. This week’s Catalan phrase is ‘No hi ha pany que tanqui’ meaning ‘There is no lock that closes’. It is used to describe problems that have no easy solution, such as the housing situation in Barcelona.