From the Squatters’ Movement to Housing Activism in Spain: Identities, Tactics and Political Orientation

Abstract

The squatters’ movement first appeared in Spain in the 1980s. However, in 2006, a new and differentiated social movement emerged: the pro-housing movement. This movement organised young people from all over the country and therefore consolidated hundreds of platforms of people of different ages affected by foreclosures. Their proposals and demands have meant a roadmap for the 15 M movement. The purpose of this article is to compare two current urban movements involved in noteworthy social battles inside Spain on subjects such as access to housing and spaces for communal sociability. Both the squatters’ movement and housing activism display similarities and confluences, though they stand as two different movements not only in their development and organisational processes, but also in their goals and leadership. Squatting and housing are two different kinds of urban activism that emerged in Spain as a response to the neoliberal urban-renewal regimes and the lack of housing policies. The differences between these two forms of activism will appear in their tactics, identities and political orientations. Thus, the comparison will be useful to characterise two different but complementary forms of contemporary urban activism when faced with urban neoliberalism. Throughout the different cycles, the emergence of new movements destabilised the previously existing squatters’ practices and then translated them into new forms of activism.