Pedro and his family had an eviction order scheduled for yesterday, but it was finally paralyzed. They are one of the many families in Reus who do not have decent housing and whose situation has been aggravated by the Covid-19 crisis. During 2020, the Reus Courts registered 464 lawsuits for civil evictions, either for non-payment of rent or mortgage. Of all these launches, 185 were executed and 143 were suspended due to vulnerability.
Pedro, his partner and their three minor children were forced to occupy a house on Mas Pellicer street in the Sant Josep Obrer neighborhood. They have already suffered other eviction attempts but now they have been able to buy time to find a solution. And is that the launch date has been postponed until May.
The Sindicat de l’Habitatge de Reus (SHR) had called a mobilization to try to stop the eviction. From the entity, they do not know the reasons why the launch was finally stopped but they believe that pressure and social mobilization have helped to stop it.
Oriol Sales, from SHR, explains that from the Sindicat de l’Habitatge they work so that no one is left without a home, but not from a welfare position like Serveis Socials would. “We work together so that everyone has a decent home,” says Sales, adding that the intention is to help people find a solution through Serveis Socials, negotiating with homeowners or through the Taula d ‘ Emergency in l’Àmbit de l’Habitatge, among others.
From the SHR they regret that “Social Services does not go where it has to go” due to lack of resources and denounce that “the public housing stock is very precarious and very fair.” They are also critical of the City Council’s management in terms of housing because, according to Sales, they do not give “solutions but pieces” as with the Suïssa pension, where people who do not have a roof live temporarily “in poor condition” and consider that it is not a site suitable for families with minors.
Right now, the priority for the Sindicat de l’Habitatge is to stop all evictions because “we cannot allow people to be on the street without a housing alternative.” They defend that administrations should protect tenants more than owners, who in many cases are vulture funds or banks.
Since the Sindicat de l’Habitatge de Reus was launched in December 2020, they have managed to stop two other evictions, one in Salou and the other in the Fortuny neighborhood of Reus. And they have also followed up on some cases that don’t have a release date yet.
By criminal means, for minor crimes of occupation, in the Reus investigating courts, during 2020 97 trials were initiated, 16 trials were sentenced, 4 of them with convictions and 12 with acquittals. On the other hand, 47 trials were shelved before sentencing and only in 4 cases were precautionary eviction measures taken before the trial.
The Reus Courts of first instance have 7 courts, one of which became operational on October 1. In the capital of Baix Camp there are also 4 instruction courts.
It should be remembered that the Reus City Council intervened in 2020 in the paralysis of 90 files, and in total they managed to stop 96 eviction attempts. From Serveis Socials del Ayuntamiento, they worked with a total of 342 files with legal proceedings for eviction (176 opened in previous years and 167 last year). Of the 342, 107 already have a scheduled launch date and the other 235 still have no defined deadline.
With his intervention, the Reus City Council managed to stop 96 evictions in 2020
The consistory in 2013 joined the Protocol for the execution of the launching proceedings to the judicial parties of Catalonia, in order to coordinate institutions to avoid evictions and to help improve the situation of families in vulnerable situations.
In addition, the local administration also offers a mortgage debt counseling service and help to avoid losing your home or community work.
At the end of January the Constitutional Court annulled Decree 17/2019 and 1/2020 of the Generalitat through which large holders were obliged to offer a social rent to families who could not pay the rent or with the contract expired, or to those who illegally occupy a property as long as they prove the lack of resources.
The TC considered that this regulation could not be done by decree, but by law.
The entities that defend decent housing for everyone are demanding from the new Catalan government a law that prioritizes rents before opting for evictions, but above all a large investment to expand the social housing stock.
The City Council works to expand the public housing stock
Currently the Reus City Council has 160 public housing units with social rents. From the consistory they want to increase the offer and have some projects on the table. The administration contemplates 35 new official protection houses in the area of old Hispania and also the construction of buildings in the Carme neighborhood. On the other hand, the council also wants to launch the Roser Social Center this year to be able to host people in social emergency situations. The center will also include the soup kitchen, a solidarity pantry and a management and distribution point for the food network.
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