Bloc la Bordeta
This is how life passes in the occupied block of the Bordeta neighborhood (Barcelona) A building that was occupied by the "social work of the Pah" to respond to the need for housing of 20 families from different realities but with one thing in common, not being able to access decent housing. The "Obra Social la PAH" acts when all the alternatives for access to housing have been exhausted, after having negotiated with banks and administrations. Thus, in the face of the housing emergency situation to which the public authorities do not provide solutions, they occupy flats and buildings that are in the hands of the banks. As one of its members explains, “if the cos have been rescued with public money their flats have to be at the service of all ”.
I accompany LLum, a neighbor of the mezzanine, to the fountain in the square next door to the water, to fill bottles.
One of the problems of the building is the lack of water and Agbar's (water management company in Barcelona) refusal to solve it without the property's request. It will end up once again resorting to direct action to make the Bordeta Block a decent home, with water supply. The Block is the result of an unfinished promotion of the real estate company Nyala 2006 S.L. that accumulated a debt for non-payment with Caja Baleares. This developer belongs to the Riera Marsá family, who made a fortune in the first stage of the Franco regime with their industries, and in the 60's with the speculative explosion that took place in the coastal belt of Barcelona. The ownership of the Bloc passed its financial assets to Sareb, and now the PAH Welfare Project wants to negotiate with this financial company. A process that has to be carried out through the administrations by the refusal of the "Bad Bank" to talk to the neighbors to get a social rent for people and families housed in the Bloc.
