The Parliament fills with vultures

PalmaFor a good part of society, housing is currently 'The Problem'. There are those who have lost their home, who are waiting to lose it, who do not know if they will lose it... The social outburst has surprised no one. In any case, what is surprising is that it has been a civic outburst. Unfortunately, for a good part of the politicians, housing is the star topic of the campaign, the weapon to throw in the rival's face, an empty word. Because the bricks of the building of this economic sector that we call politics are precisely that, words that the professionals of speeches have emptied of content: 'democracy', 'freedom', 'equality', 'rights', etc.

Vulture funds appeared 28 times at Tuesday's Parliament plenary session. The PSIB referred to them 16 times; MÉS per Mallorca, 8, and the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, named them 4 times, not on her own initiative, but in response to the opposition. The socialists have not discovered vulture funds now, heaven forbid. It has been too many years that opportunistic investors have been hovering over the Balearic Islands and the State without anyone having managed to prevent them from taking advantage of it. But what the PSOE has now discovered is the utility of crying out against them, as if it were the voice of the street. Spoiler: it is not, and this time the move is not guaranteed to turn out well for their interests.

The PP continues to play its cards. "The solution is not to limit prices, but to generate more housing supply," claimed the popular deputy Margalida Pocoví. But the underlying question that is not answered here is: what will be the use of building if there is no limit to the hoarding of housing by those who need it least? "10% of the housing stock of the Balearic Islands, 50,000 homes, is in the hands of owners who have more than six," remarked the spokesperson for Més per Menorca, Josep Castells. And the PSIB deputy Carles Bona highlighted that "only 10 companies control 10% of the rental market" of the Islands. As things stand, who will prevent them from buying the newly built homes? Who will be able to access the houses that are built?

The street, another planet

“It is time for the [Spanish] Parliament to resemble the street and not those who live in penthouses”. This is the headline of the interview with Pedro Sánchez in elDiario.es. Another discovery made out of time. The street is currently another planet for political professionals. This does not mean that they do not walk the street like everyone else, but that the street speaks a different language and it does not seem that they have assimilated it.

Did anyone seriously listen to Pilar López on Tuesday? She did listen to the debate on the limitation of rental prices, which did not go ahead with the votes against it from the PP and Vox. This 65-year-old woman spent the summer inside her car after being evicted, and now she is waiting to know, in a room at a pension paid for by the Palma City Council until October 31, what her future will be.

In the archives of October 6, it is easy to find photographs of Pilar López with politicians. She spoke for a few seconds with Marga Prohens and left the plenary hall arm in arm with the socialist Omar Lamin. But when she gave statements in the Hall of Lost Steps, she was only accompanied by the PAH spokesperson, Àngela Pons, who knows firsthand the situation of Pilar and many other people.

Pilar’s situation is desperate, and desperation is good material with the election countdown underway. “Look her in the face and tell her that vulture funds do not influence it, as you said last week, that the people here do not have problems with vulture funds,” the PSIB spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, lashed out at the President of the Government. “I would like you to look to the left and tell Pilar López, evicted by a vulture fund, who wanted to join us after listening to you, to tell her why she has been evicted,” he repeated to her. “You are not even capable of looking Pilar in the eyes and telling her that you would never meet with her,” he said for the third time.

Pilar and Prohens approached each other at the end of the control session. “They are using you,” the president said, referring to the socialists. Because in politics, the important thing is to make the rival look bad, whatever the vehicle to achieve it may be. Amidst the chaos that was generated, the PP accused Lamin of not letting Prohens speak with Pilar. “He didn’t want to look at me and took the opportunity to come towards me when I was leaving with a person who was helping me due to my reduced mobility,” Pilar explained, on the other hand, about what had happened. It doesn’t matter. No party will change its version.

Whatever happened, nothing spoiled the Government’s celebration regarding the calling of the state elections. The Vice President and Minister of Economy, Finance and Innovation, Antoni Costa, and the Minister of Housing, Territory and Mobility, José Luis Mateo, stood up as spokespersons for the sentiment of the Executive and the PP. “Today we are happier after the adrift government of Mr. Sánchez has announced elections,” said Mateo in one of his interventions. “Fortunately, at last! We Spaniards will be able to speak at the polls and evict your beloved Sánchez from Moncloa,” exclaimed Costa on his part. It is well known, the festival of democracy is approaching, even if we do not quite know what that means. Perhaps, it simply consists of putting a certain party’s ballot in the ballot boxes, in view of the complaints from some politicians about the encampments as a protest for housing. What is this about dirtying the squares with tents and people, about participating actively?