Recent situacion in Jun, Granada, Spain underscores unintended consequence of Mr. Zapatero's electoral promise to make public housing more accessible.
The squatters also called "okupas," demanded the properties at gunpoint from the mayor, Mr. Rodriguez (PSOE), by right of the new Ley del Suelo taking effect soon. They base their demands upon the description of the Ley de Suelo in news story published by El Mundo.

The Mayor adds that the rest of the neighbors in Jun don't dare leave their homes for fear of losing their homes. Consequently, the mayor, Mr. Rodriguez, stated that he was going to request a permit to buy a gun! Here's what the mayor had to say about the hostile takeover in Spanish:

Unfortunately not all apartments were vacant, some still had owners who are paying off their 30 years mortgage!
Here is the El Mundo article in Spanish.

The housing minister, Maria Antonia Trujillo, (PSOE)touted the future law as being a fair way to address the housing shortage in Spain. But I am sure she did not think that this was the way to go!

Since the "okupas" took these apartments by force,my guess is that they'll be answered by force.

Cannot leave the house unoccupied? What is the defintion of occupied? An old beat up couch, a refrig that does not work and filthy mattress on the floor to make it occupied. Or does someone have to be living in it several days a week. That smacks of left wing property control, use it or loose it.

I remember some cases during Felipe's G's time when renters in a house stopped paying the rent and the owner could not throw them out of the apartment because the owner would be depriving the renters of a place to live. Wow!

The event referred to above shows, dramatically, just how desperate many people are in Spain to find somewhere to live. Many have been left behind by the property boom - on Spanish salaries it's no longer possible to buy a home. Small flats in Madrid cost more than in richer cities such as Berlin or Zurich, I believe. There are, meanwhile, some 4 million empty homes in Spain. This is one, but by no means the only, factor in keeping market prices high. There is no easy solution to the complex problem; there never is when the state, which is obliged to provide for its citizens, and the market, in the business of making money and obliged to do so when we're deling with big companies with shareholders, come into direct conflict. Many of the measures proposed by the current government are examples of state intervention in the market. But this is necessary to appease both sides of the social contract between the general population and market forces. When the market is left to its own devices it generates a seething, marginalised underclass. See above.

Oh yea we in the US have plenty of room to criticize Spain! Gee whiz I seem to recall something called "eminent domain" where if a freeway was going to be built, it was always routed through a working class neighborhood and thousands of people were displaced while some right wing politician gives the construction contracts to his "developer friends" who support his campaign and lifestyle!
Pay attention to what's happening at this very moment in New Orleans and the Gulf States, where the working class people are being screwed blue by the big insurance companys but if one is "hooked up" they are being compensated very quickly.
The hypocrisy, ignorance and especially the "who cares it's not happening to me!" attitude in the US is scary and plays right into the "Christian-Right Wing-Multi National Corp" Cabal.

And that reminds me of the so-called Land Grab law in Valencia - governed by the right - under which property developer consortiums - hardly needy - expropriated people's land and then gave them the bill for installing infrastructures. These usually included new roads to their profitable, gleaming, new holiday home complexes.

Dear fulano, before you joined, there was already a thread about this very issue of emine...Supreme Court. The thread is titled, American Justice, the Good, and the Bad! it may interest you, since we all agree on the injustice of the outcome.

But, the irony continues. There is a group of California developers that are buying the country estates of Judge Stephens and Judge Seuter, and they are using this new "eminent domain" law that they themselves signed into law! Imagine that!

By the way, in no way is this a negative Spain thread, as you imply. If you do a Google News search of España you will find over 70 news stories. Everyone is indignant about this!

Point taken Booklady! but again I must say that we Norte Americanos can seem very arrogant at times if we focus on just one side of an issue which concerns the policies and problems of another independent republic such as Spain. I'm sure there are some innocent people suffering by having people moving into homes they own, and on the face of it, it seems very wrong, but what is the other side of the story? Are "Real Estate Agents" and "Developers" purchasing every desirable lot and home in Spain? Can the ordinary Spanish person afford a place of their own if prices for property are inflated by foreigners? I don't know all the answers but what I do know is that a situation like this can have dire and bizzare consequences that can really cause havoc if not addressed and remedied for the good of all the citizens of a country. Remember what happened to "Marie Antoinette" when she said "Let them eat Cake"!

Barry, it is my understanding that about half of young people between the ages of 20 and 34 still live with their families because they cannot find affordable housing.

Isn't the change from pesetas to euros partly to blame for all this? I was in Madrid in 2001 and read a few stories that housing was soaring because folks who had hidden their pesetas so they would not be taxed, "dinero negro," were the ones buying land and housing in 2001.

What is the impact on housing from other EU nationals wanting to buy vacation homes in Spain? Aren't they adding to the problem the Spaniards are having finding a home? Immigrants?

In a way what you describe, reminds me of Key West, Florida. the price of housing is so high and so many wealthy folks moved there that many of the Conchs have had to leave! Those that stay are those who already owned their home, or like my cousin, who lives with my aunt to help her pay the taxes on their home. Her taxes are three times what my aunt paid initially in 1958 for the home. Mobile homes are going for a quarter of a million dollars. Restaurants and shops cannot engage enough staff to work there because of housing!

If this keeps up, all Floridians will have to pack up and move to New Mexico! Well, after Wilma, that may not be a bad idea, hey Desert Dweller, know any inexpensive land over your way?
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Fulano, we cross posted! I agree, it is a terrible situation not to have a roof over your head. But these people terrorized a bunch of old people, that's not done! Jun is not Marbella, it's a small village with obreros, no wealthy Realtors were thrown out of their pisos!

As I said it was a law that had unintended consequences, initially it was supposed to address the problem of housing, but not in an aggressive manner, as these "okupados" did. They took advantage of the situation. It's unprescedented!