Thousands of Barcelona families stopped

Tens of thousands of families took a stand against rising prices and unemployment in a historic episode.

Ironically, housing, a refuge from work, bills, and politics, is one of the Spanish’s biggest concerns. The CIS lists it as the third issue that keeps Americans up at night, after the economy and health. This has happened before. At the start of the Second Republic more than 90 years ago, rising rents, combined with job losses and urban growth, made housing a major issue in Catalonia.

A massive rent strike in the early 1930s was fascinating. More than 100,000 working-class tenants stopped paying their rents, according to some estimates.

A rent strike? Rent strikes—tenants banding together to stop paying rent—have a long history. Geographically speaking. And temporally. Similar protests have occurred in Chile, the US, Mexico, Canada, and Argentina. They date back over a century. However, the 1931 tenants’ strike in Barcelona’s poor neighbourhoods and nearby towns stands out for its impact and proximity.

Just history? No. Spanish housing prices have skyrocketed, leading to a market with unbalanced supply and demand, making “tenant strike” a hot topic again. The Madrid Tenants’ Union has called for a demonstration in October to protest price increases, the first step in a “escalation of mobilisations” that could lead to a strike.

If a tenant stops paying, she’s responsible. The landlords are at fault if 10,000 tenants stop paying. The group recently argued that a rent strike is a tool for recovery. Some are already questioning the legality of this measure.

Remembering 1931. The debate recalls one of the country’s greatest tenant strikes, in Barcelona more than 90 years ago. To understand what happened and why tens of thousands of families organised to control their landlords, one must first understand urban growth, unemployment, and inflation. All three are best understood with figures.

A growing city… Barcelona grew rapidly in the early 1900s. Its prosperity, job prospects, and the 1929 Universal Exhibition inspired thousands of families to move there.

Barcelona City Council graphs show significant growth throughout the 20th century. By 1950, the metropolitan area had 1.5 million residents, up from 614,000 in 1900. The modest one-story “Cases Barates” (40 square meters) were built to house families from the south of Spain and the interior of Catalonia.

And with challenges. Barcelona was shaken by a “cruel crisis” after the 1929 exhibition, which drove the economy and demographics. “The decline in construction in the city and the global economic crisis caused unemployment and inflation to soar,” he says.

Massive strikes hit the construction industry. If we consider the large number of families with wage earners who lived in rented housing, the fact that housing absorbed a large part of workers’ wages – some say 40% after the 1920s price rise – and that food prices also increased, we can better understand the context of the 1931 rent strike.

After the 1929 Exhibition, rents became “unsustainable” despite 1920 price controls and contract extensions under the Bugallal decree.

Union role. The early 1930s Barcelona rent strike was not just caused by unemployment and salaried tenant financial pressure. Another important factor is organisation. The CNT launched a rent commission on April 12, 1931, the same day as the elections that would establish the Second Republic, after mobilisations against rising prices, unemployment, and evictions.

In autumn 1930, a rent boycott began in Barceloneta and spread to other working-class neighbourhoods, but CNT construction workers promoted the strike. The Economic Defence Commission (CDE) and ‘Solidaridad Obrera’ newspaper encouraged poor residents to stop paying rent and forgiving rents for unemployed workers.

Several years ago, editor Iñaki García described the 1931 Barcelona protests as a worker-led, creative movement that originated from the CNT construction union and spread to the neighbourhoods.

No payment. Four Barcelona Cases Barates housing complexes struck on 7 May 1931. They demanded a 40% price drop, better city centre connections, and health and education services. The initiative took off. Barcelona City Council estimates that tens of thousands of tenants had mobilised by August.

Thousands of Barcelona families stopped

Tens of thousands of families took a stand against rising prices and unemployment in a historic episode.

By nr39r

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