Colau: begone, housing shortageAIDA DEL VALLE lives in a block of new flats owned by Spain’s “bad” bank, Sareb, with big windows overlooking a small Barcelona square. The 34-year-old former schoolteacher, who receives unemployment benefits of €300 ($331) a month, pays no rent or utility bills. She owes her tenancy to a housing-activism group that broke into the unfinished building and took it over. One of the group’s founders is Ada Colau, who on June 13th became Barcelona’s mayor.
Ms Colau is one of a number of candidates who have infused the Spanish left with fresh vigour. Her rainbow coalition of activists and parties, including the insurgent party Podemos, narrowly beat the incumbent Catalan nationalist Convergence and Union coalition (CiU). Podemos-backed candidates also took control of Madrid and other major cities. Ms Colau’s first moves included slashing her salary by three-quarters to €2,200 per month and dropping prosecution of student activists accused of vandalism. Her counterpart in Madrid, the 71-year-old Manuela Carmena, met the heads of Spain’s mighty Santander and BBVA banks to discuss the...
from The Economist: Europe http://ift.tt/1JBjhOw
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