Housing

Legendary Lavapiés shoe shop closes permanently with a fiesta the barrio will never forget

Foreword: The building in which the oldest shoe shop in Lavapiés, Calzados Vinigon, was purchased by a vulture fund and, being unable to pay a higher rent, María Jesús has been forced to close permanently. What this shoe shop meant to the barrio echoes a story that has been told too many times in Madrid, but I'm telling it again because it is one of the many acts of resistance we have against the normalisation of the death of small businesses.

Two sisters take their own lives hours before being evicted

In their apartment on Calle Navas de Tolosa, officers found a letter ordering the first attempt at their eviction for non-payment of rent. The sisters were living in a flat owned by a private landlord, who filed a lawsuit in May 2023 for almost two years of non-payment for which he was owed €9,000, according to El País. The delayed payment coincided with the passing of their mother in February 2021 after she contracted Covid.

Vecinos de Lavapiés se enfrentan al desahucio por parte de una productora de cine

Buenavista 25 y Zurita 22 son dos pintorescos edificios residenciales en Lavapiés, situados en calles paralelas. Están conectados por un pequeño patio, a través del cual los vecinos de los 10 pisos intercambiaban poco más que saludos cordiales mientras tendían la ropa a secar. Sin embargo, a mediados de marzo, tuvieron que ir mucho más allá de la cordialidad y convertirse en aliados al enterarse de que sus dos edificios habían sido comprados por la productora cinematográfica Gloriamundi Producciones. La empresa ha empezado a presionar a los inquilinos para que se marchen, pero ellos no piensan dejar atrás sus recuerdos, sean de un año o de toda una vida.

Meet the Lavapiés neighbours facing eviction by a film company

Buenavista 25 and Zurita 22 are the addresses of two charming residential buildings in Lavapiés that stand back-to-back on parallel streets. They’re connected by a small patio, where residents of the 10 flats exchange pleasantries while hanging their washing out to dry. However, in mid-march, pleasantries turned to organising when tenants learned that both of their buildings had been bought by film production company Gloriamundi Producciones. The corporation is now actively pressuring tenants to leave, but they have no plans on leaving their memories – not of one year nor a lifetime – behind.

Music and protest against the eviction of Tribulete 7, Lavapiés

No one does protest like the neighbours of Lavapiés. On Saturday 3 February, 10 bands played on the stage of the neighbours: in the kitchens, living rooms and doorways of @vecinostribulete7 bringing an unprecedented concert to a building of 50 flats that are set to be evicted.

52 pisos en Tribulete 7 se enfrentan a un desahucio masivo, pero los vecinos se resisten

José (de 71 años) es inquilino de toda la vida del edificio 7 en la calle Tribulete, en Lavapiés. Su hija Blanca, apodada Blankita por sus padres, pasó los primeros 30 años de su vida allí. A pesar de ya no vivir allí, ha tomado la batuta – junto con su madre, Blanca – de la defensa del piso en el que sus padres han vivido durante más de 40 años.

52 flats at Tribulete 7 are facing mass eviction but tenants are fighting back

José, 71, is a lifelong tenant of Calle Tribulete 7 in Lavapiés. His daughter Blanca, who José calls ‘Blankita’, spent the first 30 years of her life here. Despite no longer living here, she has taken up the mantle – along with her mother Blanca – of defending the apartment in which her parents have lived for more than 40 years. 

The Violence of Gentrification: a talk by Leah Pattem

Throughout November and December, I will explain with first-hand experience how and why Lavapiés has intentionally been targeted by the authorities. I take a critical view on the previously held perception that gentrification is slow, passive, and inevitable, which I firmly believe it is not.

Ley Vivienda: Spain’s new housing law summarised

The Ley de Vivienda is a brand-new housing law, the first of its kind in Spain, created by the current government. It is Podemos candidate Alejandra Jacinto who pushed for this law and who is hoping, if voted for, to have the powers to enforce it in the Comunidad de Madrid.