Why do you think the people of Europe are turning towards more progressive politics?
Because the things that used to work are not working anymore. Worldwide, and particularly in Spain, we have gone through a traumatic learning process. It’s not just an economic crisis; there is a political crisis underlying the economic one. We want to move away from the model in which the few were deciding for the many, with oligarchical interests taking priority over the general interest. The bubble years in Spain were based on a model of unlimited growth, never-ending resources and unchecked, short-term speculation. The Spanish miracle proved to be a mirage.
“What people are asking for is real democracy”, Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona
What is Barcelona proposing as an alternative to the neo-liberal model?
We are in a process of rethinking politics and society after many years of a consumerist model, when resources seemed unlimited and the profits of large corporations and banks were seen as an indication of general economic growth. We are now changing these mantras. This will take time, perhaps even decades. Our focus on citizenship is giving a renewed meaning to the word democracy. People need to be at the center of the institutions’ focus in social and economic matters. A speculative economy is an anti-economy. The word ‘economy’ comes from the Greek, meaning the good management of a household’s resources.
What policies are you undertaking in Barcelona to change the economic model?
Barcelona is a very rich city with plenty of resources, but these resources have been misused. We want to manage these resources for the general interest. For example, in the housing sector politicians claimed that the private market would be more efficient, but we have seen that without a set of restraints, profit-seeking was able to take the upper hand over basic human rights. As a result, Spain has the highest number of people who have suffered eviction in all of Europe and homes are mostly unaffordable for ordinary people. We believe that that is anti-economic. Housing needs to be treated as a fundamental right and not as a consumer good; this is what happened for decades here. We want to prioritize the social function of housing over its speculative function.
Why do you think inequality has become such a political priority?
Inequality has gone through the roof in recent years. In Barcelona, there is now an 8-year difference in life expectancy between rich areas and poor areas. This is something that a democratic city simply can’t allow to happen. An unequal city can get to a breaking point, and then it becomes a problem not only for the socially and economically excluded, but also for potential investors. We need to fight inequality for the good of the city
